Best That I Can
by dragonsgorawr1
Summary: When the Oliver sisters moved into Beacon Hills to start afresh, neither expected that they'd be moving into a town full of werewolves, kanimas, and every other creature of the night. Starts roughly at the beginning of season 2, summaries are a horrible thing.
1. Chapter 1

**Best That I Can**

" _Oh, I am trying the best that I can."_

 **AN: This fic used to have about six chapters up. Then I neglected and forgot about it, then discovered it again, then began to care about it again. So the first few chapters are being rewritten, into somewhat hopefully better and clearer chapters, then there'll be new stuff!**

 **Chapter One: Great Start To The New**

"This is going to be good for us. I promise."

The words left the lips of Eleanor Oliver. She spared a glance at her younger sister, taking her eyes off the road for a second to see her flat out ignore the promise. Instead, she was on her phone.

"Amelia… Please." Begged Eleanor.

Her tone had a hint of desperacy to it. The whole car ride had been like this. Forty-eight hours of Eleanor filling in the silences as Amelia concentrated on her phone, the radio, of the three books she had brought with her to fill the time. Amelia let out a heavy groan and looked up from her phone, finally paying attention to her sister for the first time in three hours.

"What?" She snapped.

Eleanor flinched a little at her younger sister's tone, but she pulled on an optimistic smile and began talking with the enthusiasm of a fresh and upcoming weather girl.

"Look, I know this is going to be hard for you. It'll be hard for me too! But I promise that this is going to be so much better than better. We've got a new house, you'll be at a new school, I'll get a new job…. We'll flush out the old, bring in the new!"

Amelia rolled her eyes so hard that she would've been able to see her brain if she tried. She shifted her body, moving her head to gaze out the front window of the car that Eleanor had bought the day before they packed up and left.

"Your enthusiasm is terrifying."

Eleanor's optimistic smile turned into a grin and she looked at her younger sister, lips spreading from ear to ear. Amelia let out an ugh as she saw her sister's overly optimistic expression out of the corner of her eye. At that response Eleanor broke into a laugh, yet to move her eyes back to the road.

"El- ELEANOR!"

Amelia screeched her sister's name and quickly grabbed onto her arm. Eleanor's eyes flicked back to the road to see a figure bounding across the road. It had suddenly appeared in front of them and Eleanor slammed onto the brakes, gasping for breath as the car came to halt and they narrowly avoided the thing.

"What the hell…" She breathed.

She'd only caught a glimpse at what they'd almost hit; and as she looked out the window to see if it was still there, she realized it was long gone. Amelia was still gripping tightly onto Eleanor's arm, her eyes wide with terror and her already pale skin about two shades paler.

"Hey, hey we're okay." Comforted Eleanor.

Her hand reached out to comfort Amelia but before her fingers could even brush her, Amelia was nodding her head and pulling her shaky hand away from Eleanor's arm.

"Great start to the new." She murmured.

Eleanor let out a weak laugh and took her foot off the brake. She kept her eyes on the road as she responded to her sister's comment.

"The new doesn't start till we're at the house."

"And how long will that be?"

Eleanor quickly glanced at the GPS on the dashboard before responding.

"20 minutes."

Amelia let out a sigh and turned back to her phone, the incident already a thing of the past, as Eleanor took a moment to gaze at her sister before starting back on the road.

Eleanor and Amelia; the Oliver Sisters. Most couldn't tell that they were sisters due to the fact that they barely looked the same. Each had taken after different parents, save for a few similarities. They shared their mother's nose and their father's height, but that's where the similarities ended.

Eleanor was 23. She was tall, well-built, had naturally curly brown hair, strikingly compelling grey eyes, and a gorgeous smile that made strangers on the straight smile back no matter what. She was the now legal guardian of her 16 year old sister Amelia.

Amelia was also tall, but a little shorter than her sister. Quite skinny, the younger Oliver sister had silvery blonde hair and deep hazel eyes. She had a splash of freckles over her nose and cheeks and unlike her sister, she rarely smiled.

But there was a reason behind that.

The pair had lost their parents only three months before. They had died instantly in a car crash, meaning that Amelia's only direct living relative was Eleanor. Their dad had a brother… But he was in the middle of a messy divorce that no one wanted to get involved in. So Eleanor had dropped everything in her life to take care of her little sister. Wounds still fresh, the sisters - or rather Eleanor - had made the decision to move away from any shred of their old lives and start anew.

One night, a couple glasses of red wine in, Eleanor had spread open a map of America and blindly picked out a town. That town? Beacon Hills. So the next morning Amelia had woken up to a packed house and Eleanor telling her they were moving. With all her ties destroyed and no other options, Amelia didn't protest. So they left. Driving all the way down California, from San Francisco to Beacon Hills. It took them two days and now they had only a few minutes before they literally pulled up the driveway into their new lives.

"Oo… This is the street!"

Eleanor spoke and Amelia finally put her phone away. Eleanor kept an eye out for the house number and let out a little 'aha!' when she saw number 37. It was tucked nicely between two modern houses, the old house sticking out like sore thumb on the modernised street. As they drove up to the house both of their faces dropped. Eleanor pulled into the driveway and parked the car, both staring at the house with wide eyes as they proceeded to get out of the car and stare at it in disbelief.

"Well… This is nice…" Said Eleanor.

"It's yellow." Snapped Amelia.

"The yellow's nice! Very… Summery…" Replied Eleanor.

It was a desperate attempt to put a positive spin on things and both of them knew it. Eleanor bit back a sigh and pulled on a happy grin as she held her hand out to her sister.

"Come on, let's go check it out."

Amelia rolled her eyes again and ignored the outstretched hand. She brushed past Eleanor and made her way to the front door, walking up a little pathway that went through an overgrown front yard.

"Got the keys?" She called out.

Eleanor let out the sigh she had bit back and dug the house keys out of her pocket. She followed behind Amelia and worked on unlocking the front door, frowning over the amount of jiggling she had to do to get it open.

From the outside it looked like an old Victorian house. It was one of the main reasons Eleanor chose it, not completely wanting to let go of the lives the two sisters were leaving behind. The style reminded her of San Francisco… But she had to admit that the yellow was a surprise. The front yard had a massive willow tree out front and a series of overgrown bushes and plants that Eleanor was sure to make a pet project out of. The front of the played host to a large veranda, complete with a swing bench and a couple of dead pot plants.

The house stuck out like a sore thumb on the street filled with big, new, and modern looking houses… But walking into the house revealed exactly why it was there. A giant front door opened into a wide greeting hall. At the the end of the room was a staircase that led to the rest of the house, and a small open archway tucked behind the staircase. On either side of the hall were two open archways leading into more of the first floor of the house. One led to the kitchen and the other led to the living room.

Once Eleanor had gotten the front door open the both let out soft wows as they stepped in and stared. Amelia was the first to make a move to explore. Eleanor followed her into the kitchen, both continuing the marvel over the house. The kitchen seemed to be well lit with wide windows… And well… It was basically the kitchen of their dreams. With wide open windows, an island in the middle, a breakfast counter, neither were used to a kitchen of that size.

"Question… Why hadn't we moved to the suburbs sooner?"

As Amelia spoke her fingers traced over the kitchen island with a look of wonder on her face.

"I'm going to take that as you like the house?"

Amelia's look of wonder fell and she looked up at Eleanor, refusing to let a smidge of happiness appear on her face.

"We've only seen one room."

Eleanor rolled her eyes and turned to head into the living room. That was massive too. Also with wide open windows, Eleanor was already picturing the set up. At the corner of the room was another archway which led into a wide open room that had a door leading to a backyard. Which, for the record, was also overgrown.

Amelia let out a humph and moved to the staircase. It was Eleanor's turn to follow again when she heard a cry of dibs from upstairs. She took the stairs two by two and found Amelia in a bedroom that had a walk in robe, a balcony overlooking the front of the house, and an ensuite. Eleanor rolled her eyes, not bothering to hide the smile on her lips over Amelia's eagerness over something. She moved to explore the other rooms, finding a bathroom with a bathtub and another bedroom that also had a walk in robe and a balcony that overlooked the back of the house.

With the house explored, Eleanor and Amelia trudged back down to start unpacking what boxes they had in the back of Eleanor's car. A moving truck came half an hour later with the rest of their stuff and by the end of the day the house was filled with set up furniture and boxes that were yet to be unpacked.

It was around 9 o'clock when the Oliver sisters were able to sit down and just breathe. The pair were sat on the swing bench on the front veranda, both clutching hot drinks that Eleanor had managed to scrape together.

"I mean it Amelia… This is going to be good for us. I can feel it."

Amelia looked at her sister. She was staring out at nothing in particular, a hopeful look on her face as she thought about everything Beacon Hills could bring them.

"I actually think you might be right."

It was the first positive thing Eleanor had heard from her in days. Her eyes quickly flicked to her and the gorgeous smile that made Amelia cringe appeared on her lips. Eleanor threw her arms around Amelia, giving her a tight hug that Amelia only put up with for a couple seconds before letting out a 'NOPE' and squiggling her way out of her sister's arms. Eleanor let out a little laugh and watched as her sister finished her drink before rising to her feet and contentedly nodding her head.

"Okay, I'm officially exhausted. I'm going to sleep. Good night."

"Goodnight." Hummed Eleanor.

She watched as Amelia turned into the house.

"I love you." She called out, half expecting a response but not surprised when she didn't get one.

Neither had noticed the pair of red eyes peering at them from one of the overgrown bushes.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two: First Days Always Suck**

 **5 DAYS LATER…**

Eleanor woke up with a massive groan. She glanced blearily at the clock and swore when she realised what the time it was. She leapt out of bed and rushed down the hallway, knocking feverishly on Amelia's door.

"Hey! Time to wake up!"

She opened the door and peered in, half expecting to see Amelia death glaring at her from under the covers. Instead, she found her standing in the middle of the room, dressed in a pair of black skinny jeans and her pyjama top, staring at her sister like she had grown a second head.

"And you're already awake… Good. That's really good." Stammered Eleanor.

Amelia rolled her eyes and turned away from her. Eleanor took in a deep breath, preparing herself for whatever the conversation that was to follow would play out, and stepped into Amelia's bedroom.

"Do you know what you're wearing?" She asked.

Picking out outfits on the first day of school was something the two used to do together back when Eleanor was still in high school. On the first day of every semester, the two would wake up early and go through Eleanor's wardrobe just to construct the perfect first-day outfit. It was the ultimate bonding moment for the two but it had ended when Amelia entered middle school and Eleanor left high school.

The memories of this old ritual came flooding back to Eleanor and a part of her hoped it came back to Amelia too, but the scowl that Amelia was giving her suggested that not only did she not remember it, but that she hadn't woken up in a good mood either.

"More than you." She retorted.

Eleanor looked down at herself. She hadn't gotten changed from her pyjamas yet. Not that you could really call underwear and an old band shirt proper pyjamas.

"What? It was warm last night. You're lucky I didn't decide to sleep naked."

Amelia's scowled deepened before she walking into her walk in robe.

"To answer your question," she sighed, "I have no idea what I'm wearing. I can't settle on a top."

Eleanor nodded her head before joining her sister in the walk in robe. She looked over her clothes, stepping forward to flick through the clothes hangers. Amelia took a step back and watched her sister as a small frown danced onto her lips and she tsked, giving a small shake of her head. She turned and walked out of the walk in robe and out of Amelia's room.

"What? Eleanor-"

Amelia rolled her eyes and didn't bother to follow after her as she moved down the hallway and walked into her room. Eleanor went straight for her own walk in robe and picked out an item of clothing before returning to Amelia's room. She leant in the doorway and held out a cropped, grey, turtleneck jumper.

"Pair this with your denim jacket." Stated Eleanor.

Amelia reached out and took the jumper from her.

"And this is why we're sisters. Thanks." Breathed Amelia.

Eleanor smiled and rubbed at her eyes, the adrenaline from a supposed late start to the morning finally wearing off.

"How are you feeling? Nervous?"

Amelia shrugged and as she responded to Eleanor, she got changed into the jumper. Today was her first day at her new high school, Beacon Hills High. The pair had only been in Beacon Hills for five days but given that it was the middle of the term, Eleanor had figured Amelia should start school as soon as possible.

"I just want to get this day over and done with."

"Fair enough. I'll get breakfast started. Coffee?"

"Please." Sighed Amelia.

Eleanor smiled and moved back to her room to quickly get dressed. She pulled on a striped pair of pants and black cropped jumper. She threw her hair up into a bun and pulled on a pair of heeled boots before heading down to the kitchen to beginning getting breakfast ready for the two. There were still a few boxes here and there that needed to be unpacked. Eleanor had every intention on working on those today whilst Amelia was at school, but first, she wanted to make sure her little sister was feeling okay about the new start.

She pulled out a couple of travel cups and the packet of microwavable croissants she had found whilst out shopping a couple days before. As the coffee was brewing and the croissants were heating up, Eleanor leant on the kitchen counter and skimmed over a copy of the Beacon Hills Chronicle that she had picked up grocery shopping. The top story was about an old case that had recently been solved, something about a woman burning down a house 6 years prior. Before Eleanor could get into the nitty gritty details of the article, Amelia came into the kitchen. Eleanor looked up to see was dressed and ready for her first day. Her face was lightly covered with makeup and her backpack was loosely slung over one of her shoulders. She dropped the bag down on the floor and went straight for a croissant. She took them out of the microwave and spread Nutella on both of them. The coffee machine dinged that it was ready and Eleanor placed the newspaper down and began pouring the freshly brewed coffee. Once she had placed lids onto the travel mugs, she handed one of them to Amelia and picked up the other croissant.

"Come on, I'll give you a ride and make sure you're properly enrolled."

Amelia nodded her head and followed Eleanor out to the car, travel mug in one hand, her backpack over her shoulder, and her croissant in her other hand.

The drive to the high school wasn't very long, 20 minutes top.

"You know we could probably get you a bike… Save you having to rely on me to get you to school."

Eleanor gazed at a cyclist as they sat at a red light, voicing her thoughts out loud and only being met with a hum in response. She moved her gaze to Amelia to see her staring out the window. Her expression was sombre.

"Are you okay?" Asked Eleanor.

The thought that maybe Amelia wasn't ready for a new school hit Eleanor. A small pit of despair began in her stomach as she tried not to consider that every decision she had made regarding the two of them since their parents' deaths may have been the wrong ones.

"What? Yeah, I'm fine." Replied Amelia.

She tore her gaze away from the window and stared down at her hands. They were sitting in her lap, clutching at the travel mug. Eleanor bit her lip nervously. She had no idea what she could say to comfort her sister. Before she could say anything, the chance slipped from her fingers and the traffic light turned green. They were at the school a couple minutes later and the moment Eleanor had parked in a visitor's park, Amelia had jumped out of the car and was heading towards the front door of the school.

Eleanor let out a small noise and rushed to follow her.

"Hey! Hold up!"

She skirted around a homeless man rummaging through the trash and quickly got to Amelia's side.

"Jeez- You know speed walking won't make the day go any faster right?"

Amelia ignored Eleanor's comment and tightened her grip on her bag straps. She took in a deep breath and made an effort to avoid eye contact with anyone as she began to trail behind her sister. She could feel eyes on them as they made their way to the front office. Either people were looking at them because she was new, which was something Amelia didn't want happening, or because Eleanor was gorgeous and had that damn smile on her lips again. So Amelia kept her head down, only looking up twice as they made their way to the front office.

Once was when she caught a snippet of a conversation about livers, the thought that that was an odd topic of conversation crossing her mind as she continued to follow her sister. The second time was when she almost bumped into Eleanor who had suddenly stopped in the middle of the hallway to avoid walking into a student.

In Amelia's attempt to not bump in Eleanor, she bumped into someone else. The someone else was a guy her age.

"Sor… Sorry." He stammered.

Amelia shook her head, eyes glancing up at the guy.

"My fault." She apologised.

Eleanor paused when she heard Amelia talk. She turned and watched as her sister interacted with a boy. She had to bite back a smile as the two stood there awkwardly.

"Ah… Any chance you know where the front office is?"

Amelia asked the question without the need for an answer. She knew Eleanor knew her way to the front office. Eleanor was the type of person who would yes, make snap decisions, but once she had made that decision she would put oodles of research into it… Plus Amelia had seen Eleanor sitting on the front verandah the night before analysing a map of the school on her laptop.

The boy stared at her with wide eyes, trying to formulate an answer. In the time it took for him to speak Amelia had looked him over, taking in his scruffy attire, timid posture, how surprisingly structured his face was, and the brown and purple bruise next to his bright blue eyes. She bit back a frown over the bruise and he finally answered.

"It's down that hallway."

His answer was soft and Amelia barely caught it, but the boy had raised a hand and was pointing down the hallway. Amelia followed where he was pointing with her eyes and nodded her head.

"Thanks." She breathed.

He barely nodded his head as she left, rejoining Eleanor and trying to ignore the amused expression on her face.

"Made a friend?" She teased.

"Shut up."

Eleanor laughed to herself and Amelia rolled her eyes. The continued down the hallway and finally made their way to the front office. When they got there Amelia didn't say or do much. She sat down on the bench outside the principal's office and stared down at her hands again, only glancing up when Eleanor sat down next to her and when the bell to signal the beginning of the day rang out.

The two were sitting in the waiting area for about five minutes before Eleanor was called in. She gave Amelia a supportive smile and picked up her bag. She walked into the principal's office and Amelia was left behind to wait.

Eleanor walked in to see the principal sitting at his desk. He stood and smiled at Eleanor, holding his hand out to shake hers.

"Ms Oliver, right? Thank you for coming in."

"It's not a problem."

He gave a smile and indicated that the two of them sit down.

"Now the reason I asked you to come in is due to some… Discrepancies on her transcript. Her grades seemed to drop towards the end of the last semester…"

As he spoke he shuffled around for what Eleanor assumed was Amelia's transcript. As he trailed off he looked up at his with a questioning expression, prompting her to fill in the blank. Eleanor cleared her throat and nodded her head.

"Yes. She, we ah… We lost our parents a couple months ago. It hit Amelia quite hard, in turn affecting her school grades."

He nodded his head and looked back at Amelia's transcript. If he had condolences to give, he sure wasn't going to pass them on.

"Involved in a lot of extracurricular activities… Never had a detention… Despite her drop in grades, Amelia seems like she'd be an excellent addition to Beacon Hills High."

"Well, we were raised that way."

He smiled up at Eleanor and she forced a smile back.

"I'd absolutely love to welcome Amelia into Beacon Hills High-"

"Great!"

"There's one thing, though." Continued the principal.

Eleanor raised an eyebrow and watched as he opened up his top drawer to pull a brochure out. He held it out to Eleanor and she slowly took it from him, her eyes immediately taking in the words 'grief', 'loss', and 'counselling'.

"I think it'd be a good idea for Amelia to schedule weekly sessions with the school counsellor."

"Okay…"

"Great! We'll schedule the first appointment for tomorrow. The receptionist will have Amelia's timetable and an introductory pack. It was great meeting you."

He rose and so did Eleanor, trying to fight back the confused look on her face over how quick and brash the meeting was.

"You too." She replied, a little stunned.

The two shook hands again and he led Eleanor to the door. When she walked out, and the door closed behind her, she let the confused look appear on her face. Amelia's face dropped over the sight of Eleanor's expression.

"What happened? Did I not get accepted?" She asked, her mind immediately jumping to the worst.

"No, no you did… There is a catch, though."

"What's the catch?"

Eleanor ignored her sister for a moment. She turned to the receptionist and flashed her one of her smiles before collecting Amelia's introductory pack and timetable. Once she had those she walked out into the empty hallway. Amelia scrambled to follow behind her.

"Well?" She asked.

Eleanor took in a deep breath before turning to face her younger sister.

"You have to see the counsellor. The first appointment is tomorrow."

Amelia scowled and folded her arms across her chest.

"Seriously," she scoffed, "that's ridiculous."

"Well… Not completely…"

Amelia's scowl grew and Eleanor bit her lip, trying to come up with a way to explain her thought process to her younger sister. As quick and jarring her meeting with the principal had been… Eleanor understood where his suggestions and worries stemmed from.

"It's not a bad idea. Your grades were severely affected towards the end of last semester. You haven't really talked about what happened-"

"My parents died!" Exclaimed Amelia.

"You think I don't know that?" Snapped Eleanor.

Her grey eyes cut to meet Amelia's hazel eyes. They glared at each other, both refusing to back off from their own comments. Eventually, Eleanor was the one to continue talking.

"You're going to the counsellor tomorrow. It's a good idea. Just do the one session and if you hate it you don't have to keep going. Just give it a shot okay? For me?"

Amelia didn't answer. Eleanor let out a sigh and handed Amelia her timetable and introductory pack.

"Come on, I'll walk you to your first class." She sighed.

"I don't need you. You can go home now. Don't pick me up. I'll find my own way home."

"Amelia-"

"Goodbye."

Amelia turned away from Eleanor and stalked down the hallway. Eleanor watched as she left, her blonde hair swishing a little as she walked. Once Amelia was out of sight Eleanor swore under her breath and made her way back to her car. Amelia's words had cut her to the very core and that pit of despair from early that morning had found its way back to her stomach. She sat in her car for a few minutes, her eyes shut tight as she pressed her head against the steering wheel and concentrated her efforts on pushing away her tears.

"Fucking pull it together Eleanor. Pull. It. Together."

She took in a deep, shaky breath before sitting up and starting her car.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three: No Really, First Days** _ **Always**_ **Suck**

Amelia took in a deep breath as she made her way down the hallway to her next class. Her mind was on two things. One was getting through the rest of this day. Two was what she had said to Eleanor that morning. The moment she had walked into her first class of the day, English, the regret dawned on her. She couldn't believe that she had completely disregarded Eleanor's feelings… But Eleanor had never really shown the effect their parents' death had had on her. The changes it had made in her life were obvious to Amelia. She knew that Eleanor had given up her whole life to come back and become Amelia's guardian, but not once had Eleanor complained or shown anger over the change.

She turned into the class and walked up to the front where the teacher was standing at his desk. He raised an eyebrow at her arrival and before Amelia could introduce herself, he spoke.

"Ms Oliver is it?"

Amelia nodded her head, looking her Chemistry over. He was tall, had brown hair, glasses, and an ever present scowl.

"I'm Mr Harris. Take a seat."

Amelia turned away from Mr Harris, recognizing his dismissal of her. She looked around the classroom to see that it was practically filled up but there were a spare seats at the back. She walked through the work stations, noticing the boy who she had bumped into this morning. He was staring down at his desk so hard his gaze probably could've bored holes into it. The seat next to him was taken so Amelia ended up next to the back window, sitting across from a guy who only gave her a brief look before ignoring her.

"Alright! Everyone in your seats, it's time for a pop quiz."

Amelia's mouth fell open in despair. All thoughts of her sister left her mind as only one took over. That thought was that she had to be in hell, just had to be. A communal groan fell over the class that quickly stopped as Harris shot them a glare.

"Everyone is to remain silent during the quiz and that silence starts now."

He walked around the class, placing quizzes in front of students. As he came to Amelia she tried to plead her case but her ignored her pleas, a smug grin forming on his lips.

"Something you'll learn pretty quickly in my class, Ms Oliver. I don't give special treatment. Plus this is an excellent way for me to gauge where you are at."

He moved away from her and she gaped at his back. Her eyes flicked around the class and she saw a boy the next work station over looking at her with apologetic eyes. She took in a deep breath and pulled a pencil out of her backpack before looking over the quiz.

The class was in complete silence till a guy wearing a brown plaid shirt broke it.

"Alright, it's causing me severe mental anguish to say this, but he's right."

Amelia didn't catch the response from the guy he was talking to in front of him. She also didn't hear the plaid shirt boy's response to his friend, but she definitely heard Mr Harris.

"This is a pop quiz, Mr Stilinski. If I hear your voice again I may be tempted to give you detention for the rest of your high school career."

"Can you do that?"

Amelia tried so hard to bite back a laugh but it slipped through, warranting the attention of Mr Harris and looks from the two guys sitting at the workstation next to her, including the guy who had gazed at her apologetically beforehand.

"Well there it is again… Your voice. Triggering the only impulse I've ever had to strike a student repeatedly and violently. I'll see you at 3:00 for detention. You too Ms Oliver. It'll be a chance for you to learn about proper class conduct."

Amelia's mouth gaped open. She was about to say something in retaliation but the apologetic guy at the table next to her caught her eye and shook his head in warning. So she bit her tongue.

"What about you Mr McCall?" Continued Mr Harris.

"No sir." Replied the plaid shirt's friend.

The class went back to the pop quiz and Amelia went back to silently fuming, wondering if this day could actually get any worse. Luckily, it didn't seem like it. She got through the pop quiz and left the classroom as quick as she could in an attempt to avoid anymore attention from Mr Harris. She made her way to her locker as marked in the introduction pack. When she got there she got it open and shoved her backpack in, taking a moment to breathe deeply as she hid her face with the locker door. Her hand went to get her phone out of her back pocket to tell Eleanor that she would be home late due to her detention, but that thought slipped away as a conversation happening next to her caught her ear.

"Not her sister, her aunt. The one who murdered all those people."

"You mean that crazy bitch who killed all those people?"

The conversation was between two girls who were talking about another girl standing on the other side of the hallway. Amelia frowned but kept listening.

"Yeah, the fire, all those animal attacks? It was her aunt."

"Are you kidding? I sit next to her in English."

"Find a new seat."

She glanced at the girl they were talking about. She was about Amelia's height, had long black hair, and could clearly hear the conversation happening behind her. Amelia jumped a little as the girl slammed her locker door shut and stormed away with her dress in her hands. The two girls next to her didn't seem to care that they had upset the girl. Amelia gently closed her lock and followed behind the girl, watching as she was pulled into a classroom by the non-plaid boy from her Chemistry class. Amelia lingered in the hallway and waited for the girl to come back. When she did a couple of minutes later, Amelia cleared her throat and slowly took a step forward.

"Uh… Hi…" She stated.

The girl stopped and looked at her. Her eyes were a little wet but they took Amelia in with a scrutinising gaze, looking her up and down and clearly wondering what her intentions were.

"Hi?" She asked.

"I… I know this is weird… But I heard those girls talking about you and I just… I wanted to say sorry. It sucks. Losing someone and having people talk about it? I know what that feels like and just… Yeah. I'm sorry."

She stared at Amelia, the scrutinising gaze fading away. Slowly, a smile curled onto her lips.

"Thank you." She said, voice and smile soft, "I'm Allison."

"Amelia. I just moved into town."

"Well Amelia, if you ever need someone to sit next to in English…"

Amelia tried for a smile but she just couldn't. So she opted for nodding her head. Allison pointed behind her, the smile still present.

"I've got to go. But thank you. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Sure thing."

Allison smiled again and dashed off, the dress she was holding before lightly hitting her chest as she moved. The bell rang out and Amelia let out a soft groan. The bell ringing meant it was 3:00. That meant detention.

* * *

Eleanor tucked the stray curl away before brushing away the sweat that had formed on her brow. When she had gotten back from dropping Amelia off at school she had continued to unpack the rest of the boxes in an attempt to not think about the words the pair of them had exchanged. When unpacking boxes didn't help she decided that she was going to go for a run. So, she pulled on her running gear, got into her car, and drove around till she found a place where she could exercise.

In hindsight, she had no idea why she thought running was a good idea. Eleanor never went running. But there she was, somewhere in the middle of Beacon Hills Reserve, desperately trying to catch her breath. She held onto her sides and let out a mixture of curses and ows over the stitch that had formed in her side. When she head the crunching of leaves she looked up to see a very attractive man raising an amused eyebrow at her.

"You okay?" He asked.

Eleanor took in a deep breath then exhaled, mentally cursing how unfit she was.

"I'm fine. A-okay. Very unfit. You'd think the hills in San Francisco would've fixed that."

She stood up straight and stretched a little, trying to scrape together some sort of dignity in front of the man. He was a little taller than her and dressed in different shades of black. He looked a little pale, like he didn't get enough sunlight, and had a bit of dark stubble growing on a very strong jaw. His eyes looked like they were a light green, but Eleanor couldn't be sure. She was sure of the small smirk that was spreading across his lips as he watched her stretch.

"You're from San Francisco?" He asked.

Eleanor nodded her head and the beginning of a friendly smiled formed on her lips.

"Not originally. But it's where I was before I moved here."

The man nodded his head and quickly glanced around, the smirk dropping from his lips.

"What about you?" Asked Eleanor.

He looked back at her, the smirk completely gone and replaced with a frown.

"What about me?" He asked.

"Are you from Beacon Hills?"

The frown dropped and he shot her a quick, falsified smile.

"Yes. From Beacon Hills. When did you move here?"

"Ah moved in on Friday."

"That's quite soon."

"You ask a lot of questions."

The man froze and stared at Eleanor, unsure of what to say next. Her smile had dropped and she was looking at him with cautious eyes. The thought that she was in the middle of a reserve alone with a guy she didn't know crossed her mind. What if he was a psycho? Realistically no one would be able to hear her scream. Before either of them could say anything Eleanor's phone buzzed to life. She pulled it out of her pocket, frowned at the caller ID, then answered it.

"Hello?"

" _Eleanor Oliver? It's Principal Thomas, from Beacon Hills High."_

"Ah! Principal Thomas, what can I do for you?"

" _I was just ringing to let you know that Amelia has received a detention and will be staying late. Obviously this isn't behaviour we'd like to see continued."_

"Detention? What for?"

" _Disrupting her Chemistry class. As I was saying, not behaviour we want to see continued. I have full faith that Amelia seeing our councillor will be an immense help to regulating her behaviour at school."_

Eleanor flinched over the reminder of her conversation with Amelia this morning. She turned away from the man, beginning to pace as she chewed on her bottom lip and tried to formulate a response to the principal.

"Look Principal Thomas, I wholeheartedly agree that seeing a counsellor may help Amelia, but it would only work if Amelia was willing. At the moment… She isn't..."

" _I'm afraid seeing the counsellor is something I must insist on if Amelia is to continue studying at Beacon Hills High."_

Eleanor's face dropped and she bit back her initial response of wanting to bite his head off. Instead she closed her eyes and took in a deep breath.

"I'll see what I can do."

" _Great! It's been good talking to you again Ms Oliver, despite the obvious circumstances."_

Before Eleanor could respond, the principal had hung up on her. She grumbled some sort of half-formed insult at him and let out a sigh as she tucked her phone back into her pocket and turned back to face the man.

"Sorry- And you're not here anymore…"

She frowned to see that the man had completely vanished from sight. Filing the interaction as weird but grateful it didn't lead to her death, she turned back around and headed to her car.

* * *

Amelia was sat in detention, coming up with a variety of colourful curses for Mr Harris in her mind. It was blatantly obvious that he was going to be the teacher she would come to despise the most. She snuck him another glare before returning to the work in front of her. She was one day in and already had a mountain of study to do. Glancing back, she saw the kid that had first been granted detention sitting two tables back from her. He was staring at the clock, mouth gaped open in anticipation. Amelia looked at the clock herself and let out a small sigh of relief when she saw it was almost 4:00. When the clock struck 4:00, he scrambled to leave and Amelia began to pack up her books.

"Sit."

Mr Harris spoke and Amelia looked back and forth between the boy and the teacher, watching their conversation like it was a game of table tennis.

"What- But it's been half an hour?"

"My detention is an hour and a half."

"You can't do that!"

"Oh… But I can. You see, Stiles, since your father was so judicious in his dealing with me, I've decided to make you my personal project for the rest of the semester. You are going to benefit from all the best that strict discipline has to offer. Now, sit down, before I decide to keep you here all night."

Amelia watched as Stiles fell back onto his chair, mouth gaped open in disbelief as he tried to come up with some sort of response. Her eyes shot back to the teacher as he addressed her.

"Ms Oliver, you may go. Let this detention serve as a lesson. I don't appreciate back talk or disruptive behaviour in my class. Don't make me have to keep you after school again."

Amelia nodded her head and gathered her things quickly before Mr Harris could change his mind. She heard Stiles' spluttering as she left, but didn't look back at him as she raced out of there. She was almost at the front door when she froze and realized she had no idea how she was getting home. With a deep sigh, she pulled out her phone and saw that she had a missed call and a voicemail from Eleanor.

" _You know first days at a new school start off so much better when there isn't detention involved? I'm figuring you're being let out at 4 so expect me sitting in the car park waiting for you… I know you said you didn't want me to pick you up but I'm here."_

Amelia let out another sigh and held her phone in her hand as she moved out of the school building. Eleanor was true to her word. She was sitting in her car, still dressed in her sporting gear with her legs draped over the passenger seat. She was tossing her phone up and down, catching it every time. She jumped as Amelia rapped on the window of the car and looked up with a sigh of relief to see her sister standing there. Eleanor unlocked the car and moved her legs off the seat to let Amelia in. She watched as her younger sister tossed her backpack onto the back seat, buckled herself in, then glared out the window. Eleanor started up the car and neither of them spoke till they were away from the school.

"How did you know I got detention?" Asked Amelia.

"The principal called. Please don't get anymore because that man is not a fun one to talk to… What was the detention even for? Apparently you were disrupting the class."

Amelia scoffed and turned her glare to her sister.

"I giggled! I got a detention for giggling! Do you know how absurd that is?!"

Eleanor let out a small laugh, taking Amelia's outburst as a sign that she was confiding in her.

"Okay, that's definitely crazy. What was the class?"

"Chemistry." Sighed Amelia.

Eleanor faked a whole body shiver and shook her head, letting out a small noise of disgust over the subject. Amelia's glare softened at that.

"To make it even worse we had a pop quiz. I think it's safe to say I will be hating Chemistry."

Eleanor let out another laugh and nodded her head.

"I hated it too. Oliver's are strict creative types."

"On that… Did you find my camera?"

If there was one thing the Oliver sisters had in common, it was their knack for excelling in the creative arts. Amelia had picked up photography ages ago and she had a natural talent for it. When she was a little younger their mother had walked in to find that Amelia had taken her old camera and was practicing taking photos with it. As a result of that she got her first ever camera and from there it was history. At her old school she had joined the photography club and was beginning to gain attention from some of the older students and teachers who were in charge of the newsletters and yearbooks. But all that attention went away when their parents died.

But, as Amelia was getting more and more into photography, Eleanor was mucking about with sketches and paintings. She had a natural flare for it, any of it, from charcoals to watercolours, and when she left high school she pursued her love of art in university. She had finished off her studies a couple months before their parents passed.

"I didn't find your camera… But it may be in one of your boxes? I've unpacked pretty much everything except for the rest of our rooms. Figured you'd like to your own?"

Amelia nodded her head in thanks and the two lapsed into silence for the rest of the drive. Neither of them wanted to mention what had happened that morning… At least they weren't going to bring it up now when the two were on relatively good terms. When they got to the house Amelia headed straight upstairs and began unpacking her boxes. Eleanor let out a small sigh as she walked past her sister's closed door, any noises coming from her drowned out by the music she was blasting.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four: Who Needs Emotions Anyways?**

Amelia woke up dreading her second day at school. The first hadn't gone very well at all but at least it was a Thursday, so that meant getting through today and tomorrow and then Amelia could not interact with anyone for a couple days. She rolled herself out of bed and pressed play on her iPod as she shuffled into her bathroom. A small noise left her as she stepped into the shower, hoping that a morning wash would get rid of some of the dread. It didn't, but deciding to wear her dad's old Harvard jumper, a baggy pair of ripped jeans, and her converses helped a little.

She slipped her books into her backpack and made her way downstairs to find Eleanor wide awake and bustling around the kitchen. It was the most awake Amelia had ever seen her sister. She was already dressed, wearing a full-length floral skirt and a button up white blouse, with her hair down and curly. The half-drunk cup of coffee in her hands showed Amelia that her older sister had been in the kitchen for a while.

"You're up early." Pointed out Amelia.

"Yep! I'm going job-hunting today."

The smile Eleanor had ready for Amelia faltered a little when she saw the jumper she was wearing. She chose not to say anything and in return Amelia didn't point out that she noticed Eleanor looking her over and faltering at the sight of the jumper. The jumper was a piece of clothing their dad had love to bits. He had studied at Harvard, completing a degree in Law, but never made it to his graduation as he had decided to follow their mother to San Francisco instead. The jumper was something he wore whenever he was planning to spend the day at home, with his daughters, a time where work was taboo. It was a sign of comfort and love for the two sisters… And it hurt Eleanor to know that Amelia had practically claimed it. But, a part of her knew her sister needed it more than she did.

"Where are you gonna look?" Asked Amelia.

Eleanor shrugged and took a sip of her coffee.

"I'm was doing some research last night to see what was around… There are a couple of art galleries nestled in town. If I get really desperate I'll check out the neighbouring towns or see if Beacon Hills High is looking for a new art teacher."

Amelia nodded her head and beelined for the coffee. The two didn't say much as they ate their breakfasts and drank their coffees. Amelia pointed out they should leave and Eleanor agreed, so they trekked out to the car and suffered through a silent car ride to Beacon Hills High. They exchanged goodbyes as Amelia jumped out of her sister's car. Before she could leave, Eleanor let out a noise that caught Amelia's attention.

"Don't forget about the counsellor! You have an appointment first thing this morning." Reminded Eleanor.

Amelia scowled and Eleanor waved her hand.

"Remember, just one session. If you absolutely hate it I'll deal with Principal Thomas."

Amelia let out an exaggerated sigh with the eye roll that Eleanor was considering suggesting she trademark.

"Fine. One session." She grumbled.

Eleanor smiled a gorgeous grin and called out a goodbye as Amelia closed the car door and stomped her way to the front door of the school. One inside she weaved her way through the corridors to get to her locker but found herself stuck on a staircase as everyone stopped and stared at doors that were another entrance to the school. She peered past a couple students to see that two girls were being stared at by everyone. One was a girl with strawberry blonde hair and the other was Allison. They stood in place as everyone stared before Allison leant over and said something to the girl Amelia assumed was her friend. Amelia watched as the girl pursed her lip before flipping her hair and moving. It was her way of showing everyone who was staring that she didn't give a damn about what that they thought… Whatever that thought may have been. As Allison smiled to herself before following after her friend, Amelia considered pushing past the group of stopped students to say hi. But, the moment the two girls had moved, so did everyone else on the staircase. It wasn't long till Amelia was standing alone, a little lost and a little confused. Then the school bell rang out, signalling the beginning of the day, and Amelia swore under her breath before moving to find the counsellor's office.

* * *

Eleanor was beginning to wonder if counselling was something she should check out herself if a jumper was enough to shake her. Her fingers tapped nervously on the steering wheel as she bit her bottom lip, trying to push the feelings that seeing the jumper had caused away. Maybe she would go shopping after job hunting, a little bit a retail therapy to ease her worried mind. She closed her eyes and let out a long groan that was interrupted by the car behind her honking it's horn.

"Yeah! Alright! I'm moving!" She exclaimed.

She knew the car behind her couldn't hear her but the exclamation helped. She continued on her way to the city centre of Beacon Hills and pulled into an empty parking space. She took a few seconds to gather herself, checking her face in the visor, before grabbing her bag and getting out of the car.

To say Eleanor hit the pavement hard was an understatement. She hit up every place that was slightly related to what she had studied and the experience she had… But every place she went to only took her resume after she gave them an award winning smile and politely insisted they keep it on file for when they were looking for someone.

Once she was out of resumes, and only then, did she stumble out onto the footpath and take in a moment to release some of her frustration through heavy breaths and the decision that she needed to shop. So she did. She beelined for a clothing store and spent some time looking at the different racks, using the time to bury her emotions over Amelia wearing their dad's jumper and the number of rejections she was bound to get in the following week.

She let out a soft sigh and glanced up from the rack she was looking at to see a familiar looking guy at the rack that was behind hers. He heard her sigh and looked up at her. He gave her a smile and said a soft and familiar-sounding hello. Eleanor said one back before looking back at the clothes in front of her. She frowned as tried to place where she knew the guy in front of her from. Finally, it hit her.

"Of course! The reserve! I met you yesterday!"

He nodded his head and gave her a soft smile.

"Yes. We met yesterday."

Eleanor's frown didn't go away as a thought dawned on her.

"You're not… Stalking me right?"

His smile fell and he stared at her like she was crazy.

"What?" He asked.

"Sorry. It's just… Met you randomly yesterday and now we just happen to be in the same store?"

"Beacon Hills is a very small town and I needed a new t-shirt."

Eleanor's cheeks flushed pink and she nodded her head repeatedly.

"Yep, of course, I'm so sorry."

The man looked at her for a moment longer before holding up his t-shirt and half turning towards the counter.

"I've got to go… Buy this shirt… It was… Interesting bumping into you again."

Eleanor swore under her breath as he walked away from her. She put the dress she was half considering buying back on the rack and left the store so she wouldn't see him on the way out.

* * *

It had been a full 15 minutes since the counsellor, Ms Morell, had introduced herself. Those 15 minutes had been filled with silence. Amelia sat there with her arms folded across her chest, lips pursed as she glanced up at the clock every now and then. Ms Morell sat there contently, watching her with analytical eyes. They were waiting for each other out and in the end Amelia was the one to break.

"I'm not going to talk about the death of my parents with you."

Ms Morell gave her a warm smile. She leant forward, resting her arms on her desk as she responded.

"I'm not asking you to Amelia. This session is purely for me to gauge where you're at. Moving can be a very big thing. A new school, new town, new friends. It can be all quite intimidating."

"You think? One day in a new school and I'm already getting detention."

"That must have been frustrating."

"It was annoying. All I did was giggle."

"I take it this was in Mr Harris' class?"

"How'd you know?"

"I get a lot of complaints regarding our resident Science teacher."

Amelia scoffed and unfolded her arms, sitting back a little as she settled into the conversation.

"Surely your first day wasn't all bad?" Prompted Ms Morell.

"I… I think I started to make a friend? At the very least an English partner." Confessed Amelia.

"That's good."

"But I also said something to my sister that I've regretted since."

The words left her lips before Amelia was aware that she was saying them. Ms Morell raised an eyebrow and sat up a little.

"What did you say to your sister?"

"I… You can't judge me for this."

"This is a judgement free zone."

"I shouted at her that my parents had died, completely disregarding that they were her parents too."

"Why do you think you said that?" Asked Ms Morell.

"Well, she never… She doesn't act like they're gone. I've never seen her cry over them. She never talks about them. She's always… She's always smiling!"

"Do you think that maybe she's trying to be strong for you?"

Amelia sat back, her face falling as she slowly nodded her head.

"I know… I know that. I know she's trying to be my guardian or whatever… But I wish she could just be my sister."

Ms Morell nodded her head in understanding.

"I understand that. I used to have the same feelings… I also have an older sibling who acts more like a parent than a sibling. There were many times where I wished he could just be my brother, but I know now that he was trying to protect and look after me."

"But couldn't he have been both?"

Amelia's words made the counsellor pause. She reflected on the teenager's words, slowly nodding her head as a soft smile danced onto her lips.

"You're a very bright girl, Ms Oliver."

"I get that a lot." Sighed Amelia.

"And you're right. Maybe he could have been both. I regret not asking him to be both." Admitted Ms Morell.

Amelia pressed her lips together and sat back again in her seat, folding her arms across her chest. She was silent again for a few moments as she stared down the councillor.

"Good job getting me to talk."

"Well… It is my job."

* * *

"Maybe you're the one who's stalking me?"

Eleanor jumped at the voice and turned to see the man standing behind her with his hands tucked into his jacket.

"What? Why would you think that?" Scoffed Eleanor.

He raised an eyebrow and pointed at the car next to hers.

"You're standing next to my car."

Eleanor frowned and looked at Camaro. She looked back at her car and then looked at him.

"No, I'm standing next to my car."

The man gazed at her for a long moment before letting out a huh.

"So maybe we aren't stalking each other. Maybe it's just the universe." He suggested.

Eleanor let out a scoff and folded her arms across her chest, softly shaking her head.

"The universe is a bitch."

"Well universe hater, I'm Derek."

He held his hand out to her and Eleanor couldn't help the smile that formed on her lips over the response and gesture he gave her. She took his hand and they shook as she introduced herself.

"I'm Eleanor. You want to get coffee?"

Derek raised an eyebrow and cautiously let got of her hand.

"You sure you're not stalking me?" He asked.

She let out a laugh and shook her head.

"I promise I'm not. I just don't want to go home yet but I need a reason not to spend any money on clothes."

"Alright, coffee."

Twenty minutes later at the two were sat at a table in a little coffee shop, both with slowly sipping on their coffees.

"So what brings you to Beacon Hills?" He asked.

Eleanor's answer to this question was quick and simple. She knew that moving to a town like Beacon Hills from San Francisco would be a questionable move. A random town in the middle of California? Not the most desirable real estate location… So with the knowledge that it was a question she'd get asked a lot, she prepared an answer that would barely create any follow-up questions.

"Change of scenery."

"Just you or…?"

"Me and my younger sister. She's at the local high school. What about you? Got any siblings, family?"

She turned the focus of the conversation back to him. She didn't want to get into the tragedy of a few months ago, not today… Especially as she had reacted so badly to the sight of her dad's jumper. So she watched Derek as he shifted uncomfortably and avoided her gaze. His eyes flicked down the coffee sitting in front of him.

"Ah, no. Not anymore."

An uncomfortable silence came over the two and they both took the chance to sip their coffees. Derek broke the silence with a question that directed them away from their families.

"What brought you into town today? By the sounds of it, it wasn't shopping?"

Eleanor let out a little laugh and shook her head.

"No. I'm looking for a job. At least I'm trying to… There's not a lot out there for someone with an Arts major or Teaching major."

"Well… Good luck with that."

"So encouraging!" Teased Eleanor.

"Oh, that's my usual well wish. If I could offer help in any way, I would. But I know nothing about Arts or teaching…"

"So you're no help whatsoever?"

"Pretty much."

Derek watched as a smile danced on Eleanor's lips. She had a funny feeling that maybe, just maybe, she was making her first friend from Beacon Hills. The corners of Derek's lips turning up suggested that maybe he felt the same as well.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five: The Weekend, More Than An Artist And A Collection Of Days**

 **Friday**

The next day Eleanor woke up with a knot of dread in her gut. She knew that all the places she had dropped resumes at weren't going to call her… So really she only had one more option, one more place she could try to get a job in this new town.

That option?

Well, that was Beacon Hills High and asking Principal Thomas for a position.

She pulled herself out of bed and into the bathroom. After doing up her face and hair, she came back out and pulled on the outfit she picked out last night. The outfit was her most businessy dress. Three different shades of grey, none of which matched her eyes, that made her look not only professional but attractive as well. She pulled on a pair of flats and picked up her handbag before heading downstairs to find Amelia sitting at the kitchen counter with her head buried in a textbook.

"Good morning." Greeted Eleanor.

Amelia let out a hum in response and flipped to the next page of her textbook. Eleanor hesitated for a moment, considering if she should push a conversation out of her sister, but shook her head as she decided against it. Instead, she poured herself some coffee and took the last croissant from the fridge. She sat next to Amelia and ate the croissant. Her gut still had a knot in it… And she really didn't know how she was going to get rid of it. But she knew that she needed to suck it up and do this so she could take care of Amelia.

When Eleanor had found out about the death of her parents she went through a series of emotions, all of them happening before she got to her sister. The phone call she had gotten in the middle of brunch with her housemates. She remembered the feeling of her heartbreaking and everything becoming numb as her phone fell from her hand and onto the table. Her friend had shaken her arm and asked her what was wrong as another friend picked up her phone to talk to the person on the other side. They were the one to hang up, explain what was going on, and orchestrate getting Eleanor back to the house and onto the first flight to San Francisco.

So for the first few hours she was numb. Then she broke down into tears, unable to stop crying and feeling like she never would… Like she would always be this dry, salty husk of a human. It wasn't until she got onto the plane that she realized that they were actually gone and she probably had to organize things. Organize things like their funerals, their wills, all the orders and affairs that went into death. When she got off the plane she was met by her uncle and the family lawyer. They had apologized for her loss and that they now needed her to organize those things. It wasn't until hours later, when her uncle pulled the car up in front of her family home, that the lawyer informed her that she was now Amelia's guardian.

That she, Eleanor Oliver at the ripe young age of 23, was the sole guardian of her 16-year-old sister.

When she walked into the house she was greeted by family members and family friends, but she only had eyes for Amelia who was tucked away in the corner, looking as numb as Eleanor felt. Without a word, the sisters embraced… Or rather Eleanor pulled Amelia into her arms and held onto her tightly. Amelia didn't do anything to let go.

But that had all changed. Amelia was pushing her away and Eleanor didn't know what to do about it. All she could do was support her.

She sucked in a sharp breath and drank the last of her coffee before announcing that it was time they got going. Amelia rose with her and beelined for the door, textbook half closing so she could see where she was walking but opening up the moment she got into the car. The car ride to the school was quiet too as Amelia read and Eleanor tried not to let her anxiety consume her. So far, it was working. But her thumb was tapping against the steering wheel and that knot in her gut was still there. When she pulled into the parking lot, Amelia jumped out of the car with her bag before Eleanor could even think to wish her a good day.

"Alrighty then…" She murmured.

She let out a sigh and pulled out the parking lot. For the next half hour, Eleanor drove around the block. She did that about six times before pulling back into the parking lot and parking in a spot tucked near the front. She tightened her hands on the wheel and took in a few deep breaths to calm the rising anxiety.

"You can do this," she said to her reflection, "you are a strong, beautiful, intelligent woman, who can walk into that office and ask- No, demand- a job. You have so much to offer. You need this- No- They need you."

Her pep talk wasn't working exactly the way she wanted. She even jumped as her phone went off. With a soft swear under her breath, she reached into her bag and pulled out her phone to see a text from Derek.

D: Good luck with the job hunting. I'm sure anyone who hires you would be making an excellent decision.

It was a bit of an awkward text, but somehow it simmered her nerves and made her smile. With a little laugh, she tucked her phone back into her back and got out of her car. She headed into the school to find empty hallways… Which made sense given that first period had started twenty minutes ago. She made her way to the principal's office for the second time that week, a little glad that it wasn't for Amelia but a little terrified that it was for herself.

When she got to the principal's office she was let in straight away. A greeting to Principal Thomas got caught in her mouth when she saw that the man sitting behind the desk was in fact not Principal Thomas. It was someone else entirely.

"You're not…"

She trailed off and gave a light shake of her head to check that what she was seeing was correct. The man in front of her was older than Principal Thomas. With thinning white hair and grey eyebrows, he was easily in his sixties. An amused smile smirk danced onto his lips and for some reason, a chill went down her spine.

"You're right, I'm not Principal Thomas. I'm assuming that's where you were going with that sentence?"

Eleanor nodded her head and the man indicated that she take a seat. Eleanor hesitated for a moment before doing so, she wasn't sure what this situation had turned into.

"My name is Gerard Argent, I am the new principal of Beacon Hills High."

"May I ask what happened to Principal Thomas?"

"The board decided he wasn't suitable as principal and they placed me in his position effective immediately. But I get the feeling we're not here to talk about my job… Are we? No, we're here to talk about yours. Ms… Oliver is it?"

Eleanor nodded her head and pulled on her brightest smile. Now that she knew where she stood, she had to turn on the 'please hire me and pay me, you won't regret it' charm.

"Eleanor Oliver."

 **Saturday & Sunday**

Nothing really happened for Oliver sisters on Saturday. As Amelia worked on her homework, Eleanor worked on getting ready for her new job. Gerard, or rather Principal Argent, had hired Eleanor on the spot. Apparently, the school was lacking in an art teacher so Eleanor got the gig after an impromptu interview and a mysterious phone call that the principal had to leave the room to take. Eleanor was happy she had gotten the job. She had texted Derek with a thanks for his message and to let him know that her luck had turned around… But she never got a response back.

It wasn't until Sunday when Eleanor told Amelia about her new job.

Eleanor was sitting in the kitchen when Amelia came downstairs from her bedroom on a mission to the fridge. Eleanor bit her lip before clearing her throat and speaking.

"I spoke to your principal on Friday."

"Oh?"

Amelia's mouth was full of grapes as she let out the word. She wasn't interested at all but the talk of her principal made her think about the conversation she had had with Ms Morell earlier that week.

"Yeah… I ah, got offered a job at the school."

That made Amelia freeze. Slowly, she turned to face her older sister with eyes wide in disbelief.

"Doing what?" She asked, mouth no longer full of food.

"Teaching art." Replied Eleanor.

Amelia continued to stare at her sister before shaking her head and shutting the fridge.

"When are you going to stop acting like my parent and start acting like my sister?"

Her words made Eleanor's face drop and her hands go cold.

"What?" She asked.

"You… You're doing things without asking me, without taking into consideration how I would feel about it. You moved us across the state without even talking to me about it. You made me see a counsellor who can be blamed for this by the way. You cared more about making sure our parents were buried then making sure I was okay. You're meant to be my sister Eleanor. Why don't you start acting like it?"

Amelia was up the stairs and gone before Eleanor could even think to react. She gaped at the staircase and felt a wave of tears pricking her eyes as her sister slammed her bedroom door.

The two avoided each other till it came to bedtime. Eleanor was laying in her bed when Amelia softly knocked on her door. She opened it a moment later and took a timid step inside.

"Can we talk?" She asked softly.

Eleanor sat up and patted the spot on the bed next to her. Amelia hesitated for a moment before crossing the room and sliding into bed with her. They were in silence for a few minutes before Amelia spoke.

"I'm sorry about what I said."

"It's okay-"

"It's not. I understand that you have to take care of us. That you need a job. I understand that you are my guardian and have to be the adult. But… But I wish you could just be my sister Eleanor."

Eleanor could feel her heart breaking even more over her younger sister's words. This was the most she had shared with her in months. Eleanor shuffled till she was laying down and turned so she was facing her.

"Can't I be both?"

She watched as Amelia's big brown eyes bore into her before she nodded her head, a stray blonde piece of hair falling onto her face.

They were in a soft silence for a few moments before Amelia spoke again.

"Since when are you qualified to teach?"

"Ah… I studied teaching in Toronto. Taught a couple local art classes for a year. Granted my students were mainly old people… But I'm sure teenagers won't be any harder."

Amelia let out a little laugh and Eleanor smiled. She had missed this. So much.

"Will it be awkward having me teach at your school?" She asked.

"I'm not studying art… As long as you don't tell any embarrassing stories or eat lunch with me, it'll be fine."

"You sure? I've already got a whole bunch of stories prepared to tell your teachers. Oo and metaphors about you for my class!"

Amelia scowled at Eleanor's obvious jest. She pulled herself out of the bed and left her room, shaking her head at her older sister.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

 **Monday**

"I can't believe we're going to school together." Grumbled Amelia.

"I know! It's going to be just like old times. Except I won't be studying… And you'll be in high school."

Despite her momentary blast to the past, Eleanor gave Amelia a smile. Amelia rolled her eyes and shook her head at her older sister. She turned back to breakfast but not before noticing Eleanor's hands come to her waist and begin to smooth out imaginary creases in the dress she was wearing.

"You're nervous, aren't you?"

Eleanor nodded her head.

"A little. I actually haven't taught in ages and I have no idea what these students will be like."

The words left Eleanor's lips a little too quickly and that made a flicker of a smile dance onto Amelia's lips.

"You may need to slow down how fast you speak."

Eleanor's cheeks flushed pink and before she could say anything in return, Amelia had picked up her things and was heading to the door.

"If we don't go now you're going to be late for you first day." She teased.

* * *

Granted she had been nervous going into her first day… But for her teaching was like riding a bicycle and the first day teaching art is always the easiest.

As she circled the classroom she watched as each student displayed their different skills and preferences. There were a handful of students who had a lot of talent… And Eleanor made mental notes of them. A few students were okay and would get better with practice, but some were just taking up the chance to have some fun.

Eleanor stopped at one student, seeing that he had pulled out a photo and was attempting to sketch it.

"Did you take this?" She asked.

He looked up at her and nodded his head.

"Ah, yeah. Photography's kind of a hobby of mine."

"You should consider making it into a career. It's a brilliant shot."

"Sketching not my forte?"

Eleanor let out a little laugh at his joke and gave him a warm smile.

"I'm sure by the end of the semester it can be. You are…"

"Matt Daehler."

"Well Matt, you've got talent."

He lit up at the comment and smiled before turning back to his easel. Eleanor continued through the class, stopping at pretty much all of the students to have a little chat, learn their name, and find out what type of art they liked to do if any. By the end of the day, she felt she had made a good impression on the students she had taught and was feeling infinitely better about working at the school.

 **Tuesday**

Eleanor wasn't sure why she said yes to Bobby Finstock's offer to watch the lacrosse training. She didn't really understand how lacrosse could be a school sport and it most definitely didn't appeal to her to see a bunch of sweaty teenage boys run around with sticks.

But there she was, sitting at the top of the bleachers, watching the lacrosse training.

She forced a smile as the Coach turned and waved at her with a wide grin on his lips. When he turned away she pulled the massive, burnt orange cardigan she was wearing tighter around her body and cursed under her breath.

"You gotta make friends, that's why you're here." She mumbled to herself.

"You know talking to yourself won't help that."

Eleanor jumped and looked to see Amelia standing next to her with one eyebrow cocked. She looked so much like their father that Eleanor had to shake her head to get that comparison out of her mind.

"Far out Amelia, a warning would've been nice."

Amelia sat down next to her on the stands. If she was akin to smiling, Eleanor knew she would be smirking right now. But she wasn't and that made Eleanor's heart ache.

"Can we talk about how lacrosse is such a stupid school sport?" Said Amelia.

"Right?! I was just thinking that."

Amelia nodded her head and dug her hands into the pockets of her jacket. The two sisters watched the team get ready for practice; Eleanor making a point of avoiding the Coach's eye line as a student ran up to him and asked him something. Amelia found herself watching the guy she had bumped into in the hallway her first day at Beacon Hills High. He was standing by himself, fingers tugging at the net of his lacrosse stick as he didn't interact with anybody else. Suddenly, his eyes flicked to hers and she felt her cheeks go pink as she quickly looked away. A couple minutes later and the Coach called the practice to a start.

"Let's go! Line it up!"

"Jesus Christ…" Breathed Eleanor.

"Faster! Make daddy proud."

Both sisters were at a loss for words over Bobby Finstock's ways as a coach. And that was only going to deepen as the boy in the goal, someone Amelia recognized from her Chemistry class, began running out of the goal and interacting with every player who tried to take a shot.

And by interacting, the boy was running into them and knocking them to the ground.

"McCall! The position's goal keeper. Not goal abandoner."

That made a small laugh leave Eleanor. Amelia rolled her eyes and they both saw the Coach smiling when he realized he had made Eleanor laugh.

"I'm starting to regret accepting Coach Finstock's invitation to watch this…" Sighed Eleanor.

"Why ever could that be?" Responded Amelia, voice dripping with sarcasm.

They both watched as the boy ran out of his goal twice more before the Coach shouted at him again.

"McCall! You come out of that goal on more time and you'll be doing suicide runs till you die. It'll be the first ever suicide run that actually ends in a suicide. Got it?"

"Yes, coach!" Called out the boy.

Eleanor was about to get up and leave when the boy ran out and intercepted yet another player. They two met in the air before falling onto their hands and knees, staring each other off.

"Eleanor…"

Eleanor looked down at her sister when she nudged her arm. She followed where Amelia was indicating to see three police officers making their way across the field.

"What the hell…" She breathed.

She rose to her feet and stepped off the bleachers and onto the field. She wrapped her cardigan tighter around her body as she crossed to get to the Coach and the police officers. Her heeled boots were digging a little into the mud but that wasn't bothering her.

"Bobby… What's going on?"

She spoke as she came to his side, warily watching the officers approach both of them.

"I think we're about to find out." He mused.

"Coach, Mrs…?"

"Ms Oliver. I'm the new Arts teacher. You are?"

"Sheriff Stilinski and these are my partners Jones and Samuels. We need to speak to Isaac Lahey."

Coach nodded his head and turned to get Isaac as Eleanor folded her arms and continued to talk to Sheriff Stilinski.

"What's the problem?" She asked.

She watched as he let out a deep sigh that made her heart stop. She had heard that sigh before. She had been the reason for that sigh.

"Unfortunately Lahey's father has been found dead. We need to inform him of the news and ask him a couple questions."

"Far out… Okay, well let me know if you need my help in any of this." Offered Eleanor.

The Sheriff nodded his head and looked behind her to see Coach Finstock and Isaac coming towards them. Eleanor gave Isaac a kind smile when he came to stand next to her. When the Sheriff delivered the news she reached out and gently squeezed his arm. As the Sheriff explained what the police thought happened to his father, and then said that they needed Isaac to come with them to the principal's office, she immediately offered to go with them.

"Bobby if you want to wrap up training, I'll go with Sheriff Stilinski and Isaac here."

Coach nodded his head and turned to blow his whistle, ending the lacrosse training. Eleanor kept her hand on Isaac's back as they walked back to the school with the police officers. She saw him look back at the training out of the corner of her eye and she looked as well to check on Amelia. Amelia had already gone.

* * *

Chemistry. The subject Amelia had already fostered a deep hate for and it was only her second class. She walked into the classroom just as the bell rang and found a seat that had been taken up last time she had this class. The seat was opposite a guy in a red shirt whom she had seen playing lacrosse earlier that day.

He offered her a kind smile and opened his mouth to say something, but before he could Mr Harris ordered them into silence. He got them to open their textbooks and began writing away on the chalkboard, meaning Amelia furiously scrambled to get her Chemistry stuff out of her bag before Mr Harris could call her out on anything. They were well into the lesson when the attention of the guy across from her was captured by the guy who had been in detention with her last week.

"Danny! Where's Jackson?"

His voice was a hushed whispered but it definitely interrupted both of them.

Amelia frowned and looked between the two before turning back to her work.

"In the principal's office, talking to your dad." Replied Danny.

"What? Why?"

"Maybe because he lives across the street from Isaac?"

Danny turned back to his work and Amelia could've sworn she heard the two guys talk about how to get themselves to the principal's office. Turns out she was right as as Harris told the class to turn to page 73, one of them scrunched up a piece of paper and ditched it at the back of Harris' head. Laughter rippled across the classroom and Harris whipped around with a look that could burn someone where they stood.

"Who in the hell did that?"

The two boys pointed at each other and without debate, Harris sent the two of them to the principal's office.

 **Wednesday**

"Derek Hale… Fancy seeing you here."

Eleanor watched as Derek turned to see her standing with a shopping basket clutched in her arm.

"Stalking me again I see."

A soft grin danced onto his lips as he spoke, making her roll her eyes at him.

"I thought we determined you were the stalker." She retorted.

He let out a little laugh and shook his head to himself. His eyes took her and her basket in, eyebrow raising at the contents.

"Night in?" He asked.

She nodded her head and looked down at the basket in her arms. It was packed with snacks and ice-cream.

"Phase 20 of getting my sister to like me again. Bribe her with snacks, movies, and pizza. She's in the next aisle over, acting like she doesn't know me."

And that was relatively true. Amelia was in the next aisle over, staring at the chocolate and trying to make a decision about which flavour to pick. She pulled the sleeves of her dad's Harvard jumper over her hands and folded her arms across her chest, let out a deep humph when the decision didn't come to her.

"Tough decision?"

A voice spoke and she looked to see a guy her age standing there with a playful smile on his lips.

"I can't decide between salted caramel and mint." Answered Amelia.

He let out an ah and nodded his head, moving to stand next to her and join her in staring down the chocolate.

"Well, they're both an acquired taste." He pointed out.

Amelia let out a soft yep and he rubbed at his chin before stepping forward and picking out the salted caramel.

"I vote this one. Seems more your taste."

He held it out to her and she stared at it for a moment before taking it from him and nodding her head.

"Thanks…"

"Matt."

"Matt. I'm Amelia."

"You're new right? At Beacon Hills High?"

Amelia nodded her head and Matt's smile remained.

"I ah, better get back to my sister… I'll probably see you at school?"

She pointed behind her and began taking steps away from him.

"Definitely. It's nice to meet you, Amelia, I hope you enjoy the chocolate."

She nodded her head and walked to the next aisle to see Eleanor shaking her head to herself with a soft smile, Derek already disappearing around the corner. Amelia slid the chocolate into the basket, making Eleanor smile up at her.

"Good choice. I think that's everything?"

"Milk. We need milk."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven: Not Crazy, Just A Little Broken**

 **Thursday**

Another thing to add to Amelia's list of things she did not like about Beacon Hills: Gym class.

Currently she and her fellow classmates were faced with a rock climbing wall. The PE teacher, or Coach as he liked to be called, were picking students two by two and getting them to go up and down the wall. Amelia hadn't gone yet and she was hoping that maybe she wouldn't have to… But that hope was ripped away as Coach called out her name and someone called Danny.

She took a deep breath as she walked up to the wall, nodding her head when Allison locked eyes with her and smiled widely, mouthing a hello. The girl from the other day was standing next to her, a frown appearing on her face as she raised an eyebrow over the hello. Amelia didn't see the girl look her over as she discovered that Danny was the guy from her Chemistry class.

"Hey! It's Amelia right? I'm Danny."

"Hi." Replied Amelia.

She was a little too distracted on concentrating how to strap herself into the harness so she wouldn't fall off the wall and die. She took in a deep breath, glanced at Danny, saw the pleasant smile on his lips, determined that he was the type of guy who would make sure she was safe climbing up the wall, and then faced the wall. Danny followed her up, staying next to her and striking up a conversation as they climbed.

"How are you liking Beacon Hills?" He asked.

"I have only been here a week… So far it's not terrible."

Danny chuckled and nodded his head.

"That's generally a pretty good first impression on Beacon Hills. Where were you before here?"

"San Francisco."

"Cool! Do you miss it?"

"Ah, not as much as I thought I would."

Amelia's foot slipped a little and she paused. Danny paused with her.

"You okay?"

"If I admit that I'm a tiny bit terrified…"

"No judgement."

"You two having fun chatting?!" Called out Coach.

Amelia raised her eyebrows at Danny and he shook his head.

"Coach is weird and likes the sound of his own voice, don't let him get to you. He's harmless."

Amelia tried to give Danny the best smile she could muster. It was really only one corner of her lips tugging up, but his smile back meant that her intentions had gone across. So far, she really liked Danny. He was being incredibly nice and his smile made Amelia feel welcomed.

"You seem pretty cool. I've decided I'm going to be your official tour guide. Any questions you have, I will answer them. Need a friend, I am there. Want somewhere to sit at lunch, you'll have a seat with me."

"Thanks." She gushed, surprised by his offer.

By then the pair had started moving again and reached the top of the wall. Amelia felt safe saying that she had made a friend that day, and by the sounds of it, he was going to be a pretty great one. The two made their way back down, Amelia feeling instantaneously better about everything. He gave her a smile as they freed themselves from the harnesses and re-joined the other students. Allison stopped Amelia from going back to her original spot.

"Hey there! I've been looking out for you."

Allison grinned at Amelia, her eyes kind and warm.

"Really? I've been around. I don't know exactly where as I still have no idea where anything in this school is…"

Allison let out a small laugh and the corner of Amelia's lips twitched into her little half smile that seemed to be making a constant appearance today. Allison indicated Amelia join them and she did, moving to stand next to her.

"Amelia this is Lydia, Scott and Stiles. Guys this is Amelia. She's a new student."

Scott and Stiles said hi but Lydia continued to look her over with an analytical gaze.

"Where are you from?" She asked.

"San Francisco."

"Oh cool! I lived there before moving here too." Commented Allison.

Lydia shot her friend a side glance before looking back at Amelia and continuing on with what was suddenly becoming an interrogation.

"And why move to Beacon Hills?"

"None of your business." Shot back Amelia.

The smile that spread on Lydia's lips made Amelia extremely confused.

"I like her." She hummed, nodding her head contently.

Amelia frowned as Allison, Scott, and Stiles all rolled their eyes.

"You moved into the yellow house right?" Continued Lydia.

"How do you know that?"

"I live down the street. No one's lived there for years but the other morning I saw a car there. So… I connected the dots. What do your parents do?"

"I live with my sister."

"What does she do?"

"She's the new art teacher."

"She any good?"

"The best."

The two fired off answers and questions at each other. It was like a game of table tennis, Lydia would serve and Amelia would hit back. It made a worried crease appear on Allison's forehead and Scott and Stiles exchange a glance. When Coach called out for Allison and Scott to take on the wall, Allison issued a word of warning.

"I expect the two of you not to bite each other's heads off."

Lydia scoffed and Amelia moved to stand next to Lydia.

"Don't worry Allison, I already said I liked her. Now I'm just getting to know her."

Allison frowned before moving to the wall with Scott. The two girls watched them for a few moments before Amelia spoke.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Shoot."

"Why was everyone staring at you and Allison the other morning? In the hallway?"

Lydia faltered for a moment before answering.

"I ah… I was attacked a couple weeks ago at the school dance. Then-"

"Then she went for a stroll naked!"

Both looked to the side to see Stiles grinning over his input. Lydia scowled and Amelia frowned when she realized that he was the boy from her Chemistry class.

"You're the one who was in detention last week." She pointed out.

"You're the one who laughed." He replied.

Amelia tsked and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Yeah that's something I regretted immediately. Is Harris always like that?"

"Yep." Confirmed Lydia.

Stiles nodded his head in agreement. Suddenly, Scott let out a little yelp as he fell off the wall. They all looked to see him hanging just above the mats on the ground. Coach stepped forward with a small chuckle, crouching down to talk to him.

"McCall… I don't know why… But your pain gives me a special kind of joy."

He let out another chuckle and Amelia stared at Coach like he was absolutely crazy… Which he probably was.

"I swear the teachers in this school are psycho."

Lydia was the only one to hear her. She let out a little laugh and Amelia glanced at her. Apparently, Amelia was on a friend making roll today.

"Alright! Next two… Stilinski, Erica, let's go. The wall!"

* * *

Eleanor let out a gentle sigh of relief as the coffee slipped past her lips. She'd been craving a cup since she had finished her last cup of coffee. The teacher's lounge coffee was shit, but it was better than nothing and satisfied her craving. She leant against the counter and looked over the lounge.

"And then McCall caught her! It was crazy!"

Her ears perked as she heard a conversation happening at a table that had a few teachers sitting at. The one talking was the Coach, Bobby Finstock. Eleanor had tried to avoid him since he invited her to the lacrosse training… But he was by the coffee machine when she had first entered the lounge and she was pretty sure he saw her pretty much freeze and do a full 180 to get to the pigeon holes rather than the coffee machine. She took another sip of the shit coffee before joining the table.

"What happened?" She asked.

Bobby looked her over, face clearly perking up over her joining the table. She smiled at one of the other teachers as they shuffled over to make space for her.

"Had a student try climb a rock climbing wall without gear today. Erica Reyes, epileptic. She ended up having a fit and fell off the wall. She would've died if Scott McCall didn't catch her."

"Far out." Breathed Eleanor.

"I know. Lucky he was there or things would've gone much worse... It's bad enough having one student a suspect for murder."

The teacher who had made space for her spoke. Their words made Eleanor froze. Her eyes widened and she looked between them and Bobby.

"What?"

"Haven't you heard? Isaac Lahey, that kid who got arrested the other day? He escaped and now no one has heard or seen of him since. You're the new art teacher right?"

"Yeah… Sorry, what year are these kids in?"

"Oh sophomore. Wait, is that the same year as your sister? I'm assuming I'm right. Amelia is your sister right? Not your… Daughter?" Asked Bobby.

Eleanor scoffed and shook her head.

"How old do you think I am? Definitely my sister."

 **Friday**

Amelia was busting. She tapped away on her desk, wishing away her need to pee but having absolutely no luck. She shot up her hand and the teacher raised an eyebrow at her.

"Yes?"

"Can I go to the toilet?"

The teacher rolled their eyes before nodding their head and waving Amelia out. She breathed a thank you before quickly leaving the classroom and stepping into the hallway. As she turned the corner she paused, seeing a familiar strawberry blonde standing in front of a glass cabinet filled with trophies. Slowly, Amelia approached Lydia. She didn't know how she would react to Amelia just suddenly being there… They had only known each other for two days.

"Lydia? Are you… Are you okay?"

Amelia watched as Lydia turned around. Her eyes seemed to be filled with fright as she kind of looked at Amelia. Her eyes were focused on her, but it seemed like she was somewhere else entirely. Amelia watched as Lydia blinked a couple times before nodding her head in answer to Amelia's question.

"What are you doing tonight?" Lydia asked suddenly.

"Nothing…"

"Good. You're coming ice skating with us."

Lydia shot Amelia a smile and walked away like she hadn't just had a weird moment in the middle of the school hallway. Amelia watched her with a frown before continuing on to the bathroom.

* * *

"Isn't that the girl from our gym class? The one who fell?" Asked Amelia.

Danny raised an eyebrow and turned to see where Amelia was looking. The other lacrosse guys at the table did the same, all following her gaze. Danny nodded his head as he looked back at Amelia.

"Yeah. That's Erica."

"She got hot." Said one of the guys.

There were a few noises of agreement. Both Danny and Amelia rolled their eyes at the comments. They all went back to watching to see Erica pluck an apple from a guy's tray and crunch into it before heading out of the cafeteria. A couple minutes later and Amelia heard a very familiar huff from behind her.

"Move."

Lydia's voice met her ears and she watched as the guy sitting next to her rolled his eyes but followed the command. Lydia sat down next to Amelia and looked between her and Danny.

"Did you see that?" She asked, voice filled with poison.

"Yeah… She looks better than she did yesterday." Replied Amelia.

"She looks like she's trying too hard." Spat Lydia.

Amelia glanced at Danny to see him grinning behind his sandwich. Lydia let out another huff and flipped her hair back before smiling at Amelia.

"So, what are you wearing to ice skating tonight?"

"I ah, was just going to wear this?" Responded Amelia.

She watched as Lydia looked her over with critical eyes and let out a judging noise as she shrugged. Amelia sighed.

"Why don't you come over to mine after school and help me pick out an outfit?" Suggested Amelia.

A wide grin spread onto Lydia's lips and she nodded her head enthusiastically.

"I will do just that! I'm helping Allison out too so why don't I go to yours first, that way I can swing past my house and dump my books, then we'll pick out your outfit and then head to Allison's together. You drive right?"

"Ah, I can borrow my sister's car?"

"Great! I'll meet you at yours after school. See you then."

She plucked herself up from the bench and walked away. Amelia gaped at the retreating figure of the short red-head. She turned back as Danny let out a laugh.

"I see Lydia has taken you under her wing."

"Is that what that was?"

He let out another laugh.

* * *

Plainly put, Eleanor was having a rough day. She didn't have time for coffee that morning and she had left half of the stuff she needed either back at home or in her car. At least she hoped she left them in her car as that's where she was heading to now, hoping that she'd be able to get through the rest of the day without wanting to rip her hair out.

But as she stepped out of the front door, all thoughts of her shit day left her when she saw Derek Hale sitting in his car.

"Derek?"

She watched as he looked up to see Eleanor gazing at him curiously from the school steps.

"Eleanor, how's it going?"

She walked down the steps and came over to his car, bending down to talk to him through the window.

"Good. What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question."

"I work here. New job."

"Congratulations."

"And you're here…"

"I'm picking up a family friend."

Eleanor let out a little ah and glanced down at the pavement before looking back at him. He had a cocky smile on his lips, one that showed his teeth and made his eyes seem to sparkle. But, despite how happy his face seemed, Eleanor felt very uncomfortable.

"Look at that, my family friend is here."

Derek looked behind Eleanor and she took a step away from the car. She followed Derek's gaze to see a blonde girl walking towards the car. It took her a second to realize that it was the student Coach was talking about yesterday. She racked her brain to remember her name. Erica… That was it.

For someone who had had an epileptic fit just yesterday, she looked amazing.

"I'll see you around, Eleanor."

Eleanor nodded her head, concentrating on Erica and her sudden transformation. She watched as Erica got into the car and drove off with Derek. As she turned back to the school, she found a teenage boy gaping at Derek's car.

"If no one's picking you up I'm going to have to ask you to go back inside Mr…?"

Eleanor trailed off, prompting the teenager to fill in the blank with his name.

"Scott McCall."

"Well Mr McCall, you staying outside or are you coming in?"

Scott looked at her for a long moment. He had big brown eyes that Eleanor imagined went over well with the other teenagers, but right now they were staring at her like she had something to hide. Eventually, Scott turned around to walk into the school and Eleanor followed after him.

* * *

"Don't you wear any colour? And those stupid sunglasses of yours don't count." Huffed Lydia.

Amelia scowled at the strawberry blonde. She had given up choosing an outfit that satisfied Lydia a long time ago. Now she was laying on her bed, watching her new friend go through her wardrobe. Amelia's ears perked when she heard the front door close.

"I'll be right back." She said.

Lydia called out an alright as Amelia jumped off her bed and scurried downstairs to see Eleanor collapsed on the living room couch. She had pulled her hair out of its bun and was letting it hang over the arm of the couch as she kicked off her shoes and let out a long, dull groan.

"Tough day at work?" Pouted Amelia.

"Ugh don't get me started. Why did I think it was a good idea to teach at a high school?"

"Money."

"Money…" Sighed Eleanor in response.

Amelia hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"Eleanor?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I borrow the car?"

Eleanor's eyes flicked open and she jumped up into a sitting position, peering over the back of the couch to stare at her little sister.

"What for?" She asked.

"To drive. Obviously."

Both sisters rolled their eyes at the response and Amelia let out a long sigh.

"Ugh. Fine. I've been invited to go ice skating and would like to drive there and back."

A wide smile danced onto Eleanor's lips and Amelia internally groaned over how excited her sister was getting.

"Ice skating? Who with?"

"People. Can I borrow the car?"

Before Eleanor could respond, Lydia came stomping down the stairs with a skirt in her hands.

"Found it! You're going to wear this."

Amelia's internal groan became external when Eleanor saw Lydia. Her smile got bigger.

"Oh, hi Ms Oliver."

"Please, call me Eleanor."

"I'm Lydia," she turned to Amelia with a raised eyebrow, "are you coming back upstairs? I need to see if you own any other shoes."

"She doesn't." Said Eleanor with a little laugh.

Amelia shot her a glare and Lydia just let out a disappointed sigh, shaking her head.

"Well that's going to have to change, isn't it? I guess you can wear those boots tonight and we'll go shoe shopping another day. It was nice to meet you."

She smiled at Eleanor before skipping back upstairs.

"Nice meeting you too!" Called out Eleanor.

The wide grin was still on her lips as she looked back at Amelia. Amelia was still glaring and as Eleanor opened her mouth to comment on the person in their house, Amelia cut her off.

"Don't."

Eleanor threw her hands up and shook her head, showing that she would comply with Amelia's request. Lydia called out for Amelia again and Eleanor tried to hide her grin by laying back on the couch. Another groan left Amelia and she turned to follow after the strawberry blonde.

"Keys are on the counter!" Called out Eleanor.

Amelia breathed a thank you before heading upstairs. She took a deep, gathering breath before stepping back into her room to see that Lydia had laid an outfit out for her. The skirt Lydia had chosen was a short red plaid one. She had paired it with an ash blonde cropped jumper, Amelia's denim winter jacket, a red beanie, and a thick pair of stockings.

Amelia couldn't argue that the outfit wasn't cute… But a part of her did reject being Lydia's dress up doll. Yet she knew from only two days of knowing Lydia that there was no way she could convince the strawberry blonde of letting her out not wearing the she had picked.

"Get changed quick, we still gotta go to Allison's!"

* * *

"Okay if either of my parents ask, we're just studying."

Amelia nodded her head over Allison's warning. She stood awkwardly as Lydia went straight into Allison's closet and began pulling out clothes, looking over each outfit with a critical gaze. Allison rolled her eyes at her best friend before looking at Amelia and smiling at her.

"Your outfit's really cute." She complimented.

"Thanks. Lydia picked it out."

Allison laughed and they both looked to see Lydia smugly grinning at the two of them.

"Looking like that you can distract Stiles so he isn't focused on me all night." She said.

"Stiles? That's the awkward sarcastic one, right?"

Lydia nodded her head and turned back to Allison's wardrobe.

"Come on Lydia, you had a good time with him at the dance didn't you?"

Amelia watched as Lydia paused for a moment. She saw her hand lightly hover above her side before she shook her head and responded to Allison.

"Doesn't mean I want to date him." She sang.

Allison rolled her eyes and looked at Amelia.

"Stiles has been in love with Lydia since the third grade. He's really quite sweet."

"And his friend Scott is your boyfriend right?"

Allison's cheeks flushed pink and she shook her head.

"No, ah, we're just really close friends…"

"They're dating but her parents don't like it so they're pretending not to date. I don't see why the Argents wouldn't like Scott… He's harmless."

Over Lydia's words, Allison awkwardly scratched the back of her neck and avoiding Amelia's gaze. Obviously the topic of Scott was a picky one.

"I won't say anything then. Scott and Allison, just friends."

A genuine smile danced onto Allison's lips and she mouthed a thank you at Amelia before turning to get Lydia out of her wardrobe. She ordered both of them to sit down and they did, Lydia taking the chair near the corner and Amelia sitting on the chair by the desk. For the next half hour Amelia felt normal. They chatted and giggled as Allison tried on different clothes, turning each time for Lydia's approval. Then a man Amelia assumed was Allison's dad, appeared in the doorway. He knocked on the door and looked the three of them over.

"Headed out?" He asked.

"Studying." Replied Allison.

Her dad nodded his head before indicating that he wanted to talk to her in private. Allison let out a sigh before crossing her room. Amelia turned to face Lydia so she could give them some privacy. She watched as Lydia brushed at the throw blanket she was sitting on before pulling her phone out of her bag.

"Aren't these boots the cutest? We're going to get you a pair of these tomorrow." She said.

"Tomorrow?" Asked Amelia.

"We're going shoe shopping, remember?"

Lydia then proceeded to take photos of her shoes. Slowly, Amelia shook her head and turned to look at Allison who was already looking at the two of them with her dad. She mouthed a 'help me', making the two Argents grin before turning back to their private conversation.

The three girls headed out twenty minutes later, Allison feeding the lie that they were going to get burgers and show Amelia a couple of the best places to shop in Beacon Hills. Instead Lydia directed Amelia to the ice-rink where they arrived just as Scott and Stiles did. They all got out of the car, the bright look on Stiles' face falling a little when he saw that Amelia was there with them. She gave a little wave to the two of them and Scott smiled back. When Stiles' didn't smile back, Amelia glanced back at Lydia. Lydia came up to her and linked their arms together.

"I don't think Stiles is happy I'm here." Said Amelia.

"Well too bad." Hummed Lydia.

The pair followed the other three into the skating rink. They spent a few minutes picking out ice skating shoes before sitting down on the bleachers. Amelia sat next to Lydia as she laced up her skates. She watched as Lydia shivered, raising her hands to her arms and rubbing her shoulders.

"Aren't you cold? I'm practically freezing." Said Lydia.

"Maybe you should've concentrated more on your outfit rather than mine and Allison's." Hummed Amelia.

That earned herself a scowl from the strawberry blonde. To be honest, Amelia felt a little like a third wheel. Or rather like a fifth wheel. Scott and Allison were being all cute and couple-y together. Stiles was obviously trying to get with Lydia and he was annoyed that Amelia was there.

"Here!" Said Stiles.

Both girls looked to see Stiles offering Lydia a bright orange t-shirt. Lydia looked between the shirt and Stiles before responding.

"I'm wearing blue. Orange and blue, not a good combination."

Amelia bit back a laugh over Lydia's bluntness and the look of disbelief on Stiles' face.

"But it's the colours of the Mets!"

Even Amelia gave Stiles a look of disbelief over that comment. He let out a sigh and put the shirt back in his bag. Lydia and Amelia turned back to getting their skates on as Stiles continued to dig through his bag. He came back out with a Reese's Pieces and offered it to Lydia who took it happily. She opened it up and handed half of it to Amelia and who accepted it happily.

"Okay, um, maybe orange and blue is not the best. Right, you know… Um… Sometimes there's other things you wouldn't think would be a good combination but they end up turning out to be, like, a perfect combination… You know… Like two people together. Two people who nobody ever thought would be together ever."

Amelia rolled her eyes at Stiles' attempt to make Lydia think that the two of them would be a good idea as a couple.

"No, I can see that." Replied Lydia.

"You can?" Asked both Stiles and Amelia, voices laced with disbelief.

"Yeah. They're cute together."

Amelia let out an oh and Stiles let out a grunt as they all looked to see Scott and Allison sitting next to each other, both laughing and smiling at one another.

"Oh, yeah, them." Grumbled Stiles.

"Cute." Repeated Lydia.

"Cute. Adorable."

Lydia let out a hum and turned back to Amelia.

"Did you ever ice skate when you lived in San Francisco?" She asked.

* * *

Eleanor wasn't too sure what to do when she had the house all to herself.

It had been three months of constantly being by her sister's side and now that her sister wasn't there… Well she had no idea what to do. So she baked, she had some dinner, and then she did some yoga, and then she resigned herself to reading on the front porch.

She didn't realize how mind-numbingly bored she was till her phone went off.

D: Congrats again on the new job.

E: Thank you. How's Erica? Your family friend right?

D: She's fine. How did winning over your sister go?

E: Eh, she's talking to me. I just want to know how she's going at school and with everything else.

D: I'm sure she'll come round eventually.

Eleanor stared at the message before letting out a deep sigh and putting her phone down. She hoped Derek was right.

* * *

Amelia let out a small laugh as she skated around Stiles. Allison and Scott were in the photobooth and Lydia was skating by herself on the other side of the rink.

"This isn't fair! Both of you are way better ice skaters than me." He scowled.

Amelia scowled back at him and let out another laugh when he narrowed his eyes at her. She did another circle around him as she spoke.

"Clearly you just gotta practice more."

Before Stiles could respond, a blood curling scream filled the ice rink. Amelia halted to a stop and turned with Stiles to see Lydia on the ground of the rink, screaming. They quickly skated over to her and dropped down next to her. Stiles pulled her into his arms and the pair of them tried to calm her down. Amelia glanced around feverishly to see Allison and Scott staring at them from the entrance of the rink.

It took them a few minutes to stop Lydia's screams, and then she reverted to silence. She was trembling a little as Allison helped her take off her ice skates and reassured her that she was okay. She gave her a small hug before turning to the others and starting a discussion about who should take Lydia home.

"I'll take her."

Amelia's voice silenced the squabbling three. They all stopped and stared at her. Allison was the one to speak.

"Amelia… Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Look she lives down the street from me. It makes sense."

The three exchanged glances before nodding their heads.

"Okay. Stiles can you take me home?" Asked Allison.

"Yeah, yeah, of course." He stammered.

Allison gave him a soft smile before stepping forward and pulling Amelia into a soft hug.

"Thank you." She said.

Amelia hugged her back for a brief second before pulling away and waving at the three. She breathed a goodbye before turning and walking towards Lydia.

"Come on." She murmured.

Lydia followed Amelia to her sister's car. They both knew that the other three were watching them as they got into the car. The moment they were in, and Amelia had turned on the engines, Lydia reached forward and turned on the heater. Amelia watched as she curled up as much as she could with her seatbelt on.

"Are you okay?"

Lydia didn't say anything. She didn't utter a word all the way home and Amelia was okay with that. She understood exactly what the silence meant and she definitely wasn't going to break it. When the news that her parents had died reached her, she was pulled out of class and ended up collapsing in the hallway in tears. She had then entered a silence of her own, barely uttering a word till Eleanor got there… But even then she barely spoke. Amelia had a feeling that Lydia was feeling the same things she had been feeling barely a month ago. When Lydia did finally speak, Amelia was pulling into her driveway.

"I thought I was going to die that night of the dance."

Amelia froze. She had heard about what happened the night of the dance from Danny. Lydia had been attacked by something in the middle of the field and was in a coma for a day. Slowly, she turned to look at Lydia. She was staring out the front window with that same look in her eyes as earlier that day in the hallway.

"But you didn't."

"No. But I keep seeing things."

Amelia didn't say anything. She didn't really know what to say.

"I'm not crazy."

Amelia quickly shook her head and saw Lydia glancing at her from the corner of her eye.

"I know that."

"They're making me see the counsellor." Continued Lydia.

"Join the club." Sighed Amelia.

Admittedly, Amelia was still bitter about having to go to the counsellor. Her first session may have gone well and it might've helped Amelia talk to her sister, but that didn't mean she necessarily wanted to go back. Amelia's comment made Lydia turned her head and stare at her.

"Why?"

The question was simple but it had so much behind it. It led to a loaded answer and Amelia wasn't sure whether or not she wanted to let Lydia know… But she couldn't keep it hidden forever and if she wanted to make friends she might as well let someone know. She glanced at Lydia before clicking off her seatbelt, taking in a deep breath, and turning so she was facing her.

"My parents died three months ago."

"Fuck."

"Yeah."

"Can I ask how?"

"Car crash."

"And that's why your sister…?"

Amelia nodded her head.

"She had moved out ages ago… She was in Canada when it happened and it took her three days to come home… I guess the message just didn't get to her or something… But now she's my legal guardian."

"She's all you have?"

"Yeah."

They lulled into a deep silence. Lydia was trying to process the bomb Amelia had just dropped and Amelia was trying to figure out how to turn the conversation. She took in a deep breath, one that made Lydia's eyes flick up to meet hers again.

"The point in me telling you this is that… Well it's okay that you may be seeing things. Trauma sucks. And maybe going to a counsellor will help? The first session helped me… So you're not the only one… I'm here with you Lydia. We can silently suffer together if you want."

"Well that's not morbid at all."

Lydia's voice was dripping with sarcasm as she rolled her eyes and gave Amelia a pointed look.

"Yeah… I know. I couldn't think of anything else to say. But I think you get my point?"

Lydia nodded her head and gave Amelia the first real smile she had seen on her lips ever.

"I get it. Thank you. I think I might take you up on that silently suffering offer sometime… It helps that we live on the same street."

Amelia let out a small laugh and peered out the window and up at Lydia's house.

"Yeah that's a little odd. But now you need to get out of the car before my sister kills me."

Lydia laughed and unbuckled her seatbelt. She picked up her bag and got out of the car.

"Thanks for driving me home."

Amelia shrugged to show that it was nothing and then watched as Lydia hesitated for a moment.

"Hey Lydia? You're going to be okay."

"You will be too."

Lydia's response struck a chord with Amelia. She looked away for a moment, trying to fight back the wave of emotions that had surged through her. No one had ever said that to her since her parents had died. No one had said that she'd be okay. She looked back at Lydia and gave her the best smile she could muster.

"I'll see you tomorrow. Shoe shopping right? You're driving."

Lydia let out a laugh and nodded her head before closing the car door. Amelia took in a deep shaky breath and waited for Lydia to get into her house before pulling out of her driveway and heading down the street to get to her own house.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

 **Saturday**

Amelia could see Lydia rolling her eyes at her as she come out her house with the sunglasses on. The corner of her lips curled up into a smile as she walked down her driveway and got into Lydia's car.

"I hate those sunglasses."

Lydia's form of greeting made Amelia crack a soft and real smile.

"Hey at least I'm wearing colour."

She watched as Lydia looked her over, taking in her outfit. It was sunny today so Amelia had opted for her looney toon shorts and her red cropped jumper that had white stripes on the arms. She was wearing her converses and her hair was dead straight and topped with a cap that said 'almost famous' on it. Lydia took the cap off her head and tossed it onto the back seat.

"Oi!" Exclaimed Amelia.

"I do not go shopping with girls who wear caps." Stated Lydia.

Amelia let out an ugh and rolled her eyes at Lydia… But despite all that she was still smiling. She rapped on the dashboard of Lydia's car and pulled her seatbelt on.

"Let's go!"

 **Sunday**

Amelia froze as a man was suddenly in the next room. He seemed to have bright red eyes, furiously burning. She blinked and his eyes were a light green.

"You're trespassing." He stated.

His voice sent a chill down her spine. He didn't look angry, despite the furrow of his brows and his momentary red eyes. In fact he seemed curious… And a little amused.

"Sorry, I didn't know."

Amelia kept her voice firm and steady as she responded. She gripped tightly onto her camera and returned the man's stare.

"What are you doing here?" He asked.

The question eased Amelia's fears a little. She thought the camera in her hands made it fairly obvious as to why she was in an abandoned house, in the middle of a reserve.

"I'm taking pictures."

"Do you know the story behind the house?"

She shook her head and watched as a smirk seemed to appear on the man's lips as he took a step towards her.

"It happened almost 7 years ago… A whole family lived here. They were happy, content, completely innocent. But then one night a woman burned down the house and killed most of the family."

Amelia froze. She knew this story.

"Argent." She breathed.

The man's smirk seemed to falter.

"What?"

"The woman. It was Kate Argent, right? Died a couple weeks ago?"

He stared at her, eyes taking her in as he frowned and tried to figure out how the hell she knew that and who she was.

"Who are you?" He asked.

Amelia scoffed and shook her head.

"I don't need to tell you that."

"Tell me how you know about Kate Argent."

"Well it's all over the news. Everyone's talking about it."

"So you're new to town?"

"Not answering that either. I'm leaving. Sorry for trespassing."

She turned around and quickly left the house without looking back once. She got into Eleanor's car and drove away, not noticing him watching from the doorway.

* * *

That was Eleanor's car the blonde girl was driving away in.

Derek had seen it enough times in the last two weeks to have remembered what it looked and sounded like. He had also bumped into Eleanor enough times to remember what she smelled like and her scent was all over the blonde girl and the car…

So that meant the blonde girl was Amelia, Eleanor's sister.

And that meant she wasn't going to be his next beta.

Why he had come to that decision he didn't really know… What he did know was that some part of him cared what Eleanor thought of him and biting her sister so that she could be a part of his pack probably wouldn't lead to good thoughts. So he had to think of someone else… Maybe he would consider Erica's suggestion of that kid from the ice rink.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

 **Monday**

"I can't do this!"

Eleanor looked over to see Amelia throwing her book across the kitchen table. She watched as her sister buried her face in her hands and shook her head.

"Can't do what?"

"Study for midterms. I just found out that they're in the next couple of weeks and it's bad enough I have to figure out new classes let alone be tested on them!"

She let out a deep groan and Eleanor paused for a moment before moving to sit next to her sister and gently place a hand on her arm.

"It'll be okay." She comforted.

"How? How can you promise that?"

"I'll… I'll talk to your teachers. I'll work out extensions."

"Can you do that?"

"I can most definitely try. Now come on, don't stress. We gotta get to school."

Amelia nodded her head and gathered her things. The two had been ready for the day a good hour before they needed to be, hence why Amelia was spread out on the kitchen table and getting some studying in. She had known about midterms since Friday when they were mentioned in class, but it didn't click that she'd have to do them when Lydia suggested that the two of them should study together in a text last night.

That had launched Amelia into a frenzy and explained the dark circles under her eyes, why she was wearing her dad's Harvard jumper again, and the constant picking at the loose threads in the holes of her dark jeans. She was a complete contrast to Eleanor who had spent the weekend expanding her work wardrobe and was taking a pair of light grey, wide long pants for a test drive. If Amelia was any less stressed she would've made a comment about them or how preppy Eleanor looked with her curls pulled into a tight bun and her top buttons done up all the way to the collar.

But she didn't, so Eleanor knew exactly where her sister was at.

The two sisters made their way out to the car which had a little trouble starting up, making Eleanor frown. After trying it a couple more times the engine roared to life and they made their way to school without a hitch. Most of the rest of the day went on without a hitch, Amelia hung out with Lydia and Eleanor talked to Amelia's teachers about getting her an extension. Pretty much every one of them was fine with pushing back Amelia's midterms to the beginning of the summer break.

That is except for Harris.

Eleanor was standing in the teacher's lounge, her arms crossed as she tried to fight back the words she really wanted to say to the science teacher as he rambled on about how he shouldn't have to give Amelia an extension.

"Your sister's a capable student, is she not?" Asked Harris.

"Yes. She's more than capable." Replied Eleanor.

"Case and point. I won't be giving your sister an extension Ms Oliver. You'd do well to realize that a little pressure is excellent for a young mind. It may help straighten her out."

Her mouth fell open and before she could go off her head at him, he had left the teacher's lounge.

"Son of a bitch…" Breathed Eleanor.

Her words made a chuckle leave the Coach's lips. He was suddenly standing next to her with his arms folded over his chest and his head tilted up.

"Harris is an annoying guy. He isn't nice to anyone."

"I'm not asking him to be nice, I'm asking him to be considerate." Sighed Eleanor.

* * *

Amelia couldn't believe how her day was turning out.

It was a series of ups and downs and right now? She was definitely dealing with a down.

Her and Eleanor were standing in front of the car with perplexed looks at the engine, trying to figure out what was wrong with it. They stood in front of it in silence for a good few minutes before Eleanor was the one to crack.

"Who are we kidding? We know nothing about cars. I'm calling a mechanic."

She moved back to the car and dug her phone out of her bag. She looked up the number of a mechanic in Beacon Hills and was back next to Amelia as she dialled the number.

"Car troubles?"

Amelia turned to see Lydia standing behind them with a raised eyebrow and her arms folded across her chest.

"Hi! Is this Armor Tire?"

As Eleanor talked to the mechanic, Amelia stepped to Lydia and whilst nodding her head.

"Apparently so," she sighed, "you wouldn't happen to know anything about cars, would you?"

"Engineering mechanics, yes. Car mechanics, definitely no," Scoffed Lydia, "I can offer you and your sister a lift home, though?"

Amelia turned to inform Eleanor but found her already off the phone with the mechanic and answering Lydia.

"I'm going to stay here with the car and make sure I don't get jipped by the mechanic… Thank you, though."

"Is it okay if I..?"

Amelia trailed off as Eleanor began nodding her head.

"Of course! I'll see you back at home."

Amelia gave Eleanor a short nod before grabbing her bag out of the car and going to Lydia. They both bade Eleanor goodbye before heading to Lydia's car.

"Why aren't you wearing the shoes?" Asked Lydia.

A sigh left Amelia. Their shoe shopping trip on Saturday had turned into Amelia wanting to buy a new pair of boots and Lydia wanting her to buy a pair of heels. Somehow Lydia won and had left Amelia with a brand new pair of black heels and orders to wear them on Monday.

"Because I am not the type of person to wear heels to school. Let alone on a Monday."

"The day of the week shouldn't affect how you dress. Every day you should dress to impress. And those jeans? They do nothing to impress."

"What? No comment about the jumper?"

Lydia paused and looked Amelia over, eyes taking in the jumper.

"It was your dad's, right?"

Amelia's face fell.

"How…"

"It's five sizes too big for you and clearly older than you. What did he study?"

"Law. He didn't make it to graduation, though. He followed my mother to San Francisco and then opened up a law firm with his brother a couple years after Eleanor was born."

"That… Is kind of adorable."

Amelia nodded her head and the two got into Lydia's car just as a mechanic was pulling into the school car park to greet Eleanor.

"You get here quick!" Commented Eleanor.

"Happened to be just around the corner. What seems to be the problem?"

"For some reason, my car won't start. It had a little trouble this morning but today's been the first time it's ever given me any trouble."

She watched as he made his way to the open engine and had a look himself. After a couple moments, he spoke.

"I'm gonna have to take it into the shop to have a proper look at it. Swing by tonight and I'll probably have it fixed."

Eleanor let out a sigh and nodded her head.

"Well, there's nothing else I can do so I'll see you tonight."

* * *

"Hello? I'm here to pick up my car?"

Eleanor walked into the auto shop and gasped when she saw a boy laying on the ground with his eyes wide open. She quickly dropped to his side and brushed at his forehead.

"Hey, are you okay? Can you hear me?"

He forced his head to nod and she gave him a comforting smile.

"Alright, let's get you up. Can you talk? My name's Eleanor."

She moved him into a sitting position, resting him against the wall and running her hands over his arms.

"Ms… Ms Oliver?"

"Yes! You're a student at Beacon Hills High?"

He nodded his head and looked behind her, his eyes wide with fright. She frowned and followed his gaze. Her heart paused when she saw what he was looking at. Slowly she rose to her feet and moved into the garage of the auto shop.

"Don't…"

She ignored the teenager and opened the door. A gasp left her when she got close enough to see that a jeep had crushed the guy who she had met earlier that day. With shaky hands, she pulled out her phone and moved back to the teenager who was sitting against the wall.

"It's okay, I'm calling the police. It's going to be okay."

Before she could step back into the front office, she began to hear a hissing sound. Stiles watched as she stopped and slowly turned to look around the auto shop.

"Is someone in here?" She called out.

They both remained silent as Eleanor listened out to hear the hiss again. Instead, there was nothing. So she stepped back into the office and rang 911.

The police arrived mere minutes later. Sheriff Stilinski led the way, his face dropping when he saw Eleanor and his son sitting outside, both a little pale.

"Stiles? Ms Oliver?"

"Sheriff Stilinski?"

"Dad."

"What happened?" Asked the Sheriff.

Eleanor spoke before Stiles could answer.

"I came to pick up my car to find your son had fainted from seeing… Well from seeing the mechanic crushed under his car." She explained.

Stiles nodded his head.

"Alright… Well, Stiles, I want you to see a medic. Ms Oliver, if I could have you recount everything to one of my deputies?"

Eleanor nodded her head and rose to her feet. Sheriff Stilinski guided her to a deputy before turning back to his son. It took twenty minutes for Eleanor to explain what she had seen and for the deputy to ask their follow-up questions. By the time it was done, Eleanor was short a car and in desperate need of being wrapped up in a blanket with some sort of warm drinks.

She took in a deep shaky breath before looking up at the sky. Her gaze was interrupted by something perching on the roof of the auto shop. Her blood turned cold as she got a good look at a lizard-like creature crouching on all fours on the roof, staring down at the police and ambulance. As if it could feel her gaze, the creature's eyes flicked to Eleanor.

"Eleanor? Are you okay? What's going on?"

A familiar voice dragged her attention away from the creature and she turned to see Derek standing behind her, face painted with concern. He was looking around at the police cars, the red and blue lights flashing onto his skin as he fixed his eyes on her. Before Eleanor answered him, she looked back at the roof to see that the lizard thing was gone.

"I… There was… I came to pick up my car and found a dead body instead."

Eleanor answered his question as she turned back to look at him. Derek's face fell, unsure on what to say to try and comfort her.

"Do you want me to drive you home?" He offered.

She began to shake her head before nodding instead.

"That would be great. Please."

Derek took in a deep breath before pointing behind him.

"It's just over here."

The two walked over to his car, Derek watching Eleanor out of the corner of his eye to see her moving to wrap herself in her arms. They got into his car and when Derek began driving, Eleanor pulled out her phone and sent a text to Amelia to say that she didn't get the car back and that she should get a lift from Lydia.

"It's the yellow house right on Dresden Lane right?" He asked.

"Yeah… How did you know that?"

"Beacon Hills only has one yellow house." Explained Derek.

Eleanor let out a little ah and nodded her head. Derek moved his eyes back on the road in front of him but still watched her out of the corner, seeing her as she pulled her hair out from its tight bun and moved her fingers through it to shake the curls back to life. He got a huge whiff of her shampoo, his nostrils suddenly filled with the smell of lavender.

Before he could start some sort of conversation with her, her phone began to ring.

"Sorry." She breathed.

Derek shook his head and Eleanor answered her phone. It wasn't too hard for Derek to hear the other end of the conversation.

"Hello?"

" _Ms Oliver? This is Sheriff Stilinski."_

"Sheriff- Hi- Is everything okay? The deputy said I could leave."

" _Yes, yes that's all okay. We just need you to come down to the station tomorrow to answer a few more questions, fill in some paperwork. There are a few processes we need to go through. We should be able to give you back your car as well."_

"Of course. Any particular time?"

" _The morning would be great."_

"I'll see you in the morning then."

They exchanged goodbyes before Eleanor hung up and dropped her phone to her lap, eyes closing as she let out a deep groan and rubbed at her forehead.

"Everything okay?" Asked Drek.

"I somehow need to get to the police station tomorrow morning to talk to the police yet again."

"I can drive you there if you want?"

He glanced at her to see that her eyes had gone wide and she was staring at him in disbelief.

"Derek… I can't ask you to do that… You probably have plans, something to do besides be my driver."

He let out a small amused scoff.

"I only offered to drive you to the station. So you didn't ask me and I won't be driving you all around Beacon Hills in a limo so I'm not your driver either."

"But-"

"It's no problem."

He cut her off and she stared at him for a few moments longer before nodding her head.

"Thank you."


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

 **Tuesday**

Derek didn't expect to see Eleanor waltzing down her front porch in a midi skirt that was as bright as the smile on her face. But she was. She was getting into his black Camaro, dressed in primary colours with two cups of coffee and a croissant.

"These are for you."

She greeted him with a gorgeous smile and a handover one of the coffees and the croissant. Today she smelt like coconut, and that scent, mixed with the coffees she was holding, was something that was probably going to be all over him and his car for the rest of the day because it was so _strong._

"Why?" He asked.

"To say thank you for last night and this morning. Plus you don't seem like someone who makes a point of eating breakfast."

"What makes you say that?"

"The 5 o'clock shadow you somehow always seem to be sporting."

Derek let out a scoff before taking a sip of the coffee. He placed the croissant in the back seat and the coffee in his cupholder before pulling onto the road.

"You seem like you're in a bright mood." He commented.

"Huh. That's what Amelia said…"

Derek made a pointed look at her skirt and Eleanor grinned.

"Don't you like my skirt?"

"It's very bright. You're going to scare the officers."

She let out a gorgeous laugh, one that made a smile dance onto Derek's lips.

"Good… That and copious amounts of coffee should distract everyone from the bags under my eyes." Sighed Eleanor.

"Didn't get much sleep?"

"Mm finding a dead body will pretty much ensure that."

Derek let out an ah, and they both took a drink of coffee to ease the thoughts of last night's events.

The dead body was one reason why Eleanor didn't get much sleep. Another reason was because of the lizard thing she had seen last night. She had chalked it down to her imagination, but the creature had made an appearance in her dreams. She remembered the feeling of her blood turning cold as it had looked at her. The hissing sound she had heard in the auto shop was on repeat throughout her sleep and it's eyes were fixed in her mind.

She took another sip and ran her hand over her skirt, smiling over the bold colours. It was only blue, yellow, red, and white, but it was stark contrast to the fashion those of Beacon Hills tend to sport. The skirt was to exude confidence… And give Eleanor a little confidence of her own to get through today. Starting with a drive from Derek seemed to help.

"You're not missing work by going to the police station, are you?" Asked Derek.

"Nope. Fortunately, I have no classes before Lunch on a Tuesday. Didn't exactly want to not show up for half a day in my first week… But I rang Principal Argent this morning and he was fine with it."

Derek almost swerved the car over the mention of Argent's name.

"Did you just say, Argent?" He asked.

"Yeah! He's as new as I am. Replaced Principal Thomas which honestly, I'm fine with. Thomas seemed like a dick. Argent's a little creepy… But I feel like if I don't bother him, he won't bother me."

Derek let out a small grunt and Eleanor raised an eyebrow over the noise.

"Do you know him?"

"I know his family."

"Huh. Beacon Hills must be a really small town then."

"You're not wrong. For example, the vet and the school councillor are related."

Eleanor let out an oh!

"What?" Asked Derek.

He looked to see Eleanor scrambling to get her phone out of her bag.

"School councillor. Amelia's got an appointment with her today and if I don't remind her she'll skip it."

* * *

"That is a really nice camera." Pointed out, Danny.

"Thanks. Photography is a bit of a passion of mine."

"Nice! Does that mean you're any good at editing?"

Amelia shrugged and took a bite out of the carrot she was working on.

"I get by. Why's that?"

"Ugh Jackson gave me this file to work on… I'm not sure what he wants me to find but I know it'll go by a whole deal smoother if I have someone working on it with me. Can I count you in?"

Amelia's lips curled into a smile and she nodded her head.

"Sure. I'm in. Who's Jackson?"

"The idiot who usually sits with me in Chemistry… Claims to be 'everyone's type'."

"Ew. Sounds like an asshole."

"That he is. But he is my best friend."

"Speaking of best friends… What's the deal with Scott, Stiles and Allison?"

She pointed to Stiles who was gasping for breath as he came to stop in front of where Allison was sitting. He seemed to force out a few words between breaths before listening to Allison's response and then dashing off again. He came back a few minutes later, still gasping as he collapsed onto the seat next to her.

"Well Stiles is easy to explain. He's just weird. As for Scott and Allison… I'm pretty sure her parents don't want her dating Scott so they're acting like they've broken up. And with Allison's grandfather as the new principal they probably can't be seen together."

"Huh… Okay… Alright, show me this file Jack has you working on."

Danny let out a little laugh but pulled out his tablet and showed the file Jackson had given him. It was basically just of him sleeping.

"This isn't going to turn into porn, is it?" She asked.

Danny shook his head.

"No, it's just him sleeping. I'm not exactly sure what's wrong with it."

"Well, it could be something to do with the equipment he used? Whose camera is it?"

"Ah, Matt's… Who happens to be just over there. Matt!"

Danny called over a guy and Amelia looked to see it was the person who had helped her pick out chocolate the other day.

"Danny, hey."

"Hey, Matt. This is Amelia-"

"We've met. Chocolate girl, right?"

"That's me. We need your help."

"Sure. What's up?"

The three of them worked away at Jackson's video until they were interrupted by Lydia.

"Amelia, you're coming to the lacrosse game with me tonight."

Amelia looked up from the laptop that her, Matt, and Danny were huddled around.

"Oh am I?" Challenged Amelia.

She was still trying to see how far she could push Lydia. It was her way of letting her new friend know that her seeing a councillor wouldn't affect their relationship or how they interacted.

"You don't have a choice. Allison's going with her grandfather and I don't particularly want to watch Jackson get beat whilst sitting next to the new principal."

"Hey! Who says we're going to get beaten?" Defended Danny.

"I just want Jackson to get beaten, not you."

"What about me?" Asked Matt.

When Lydia's eyes cut to him, he immediately wished he hadn't said anything. He put his hand up as a sign to show that he didn't actually want an answer and he moved his attention back to the laptop.

"You should come, Amelia. Support your local high school and me of course." Said Danny.

"Whose side are you on?" Gaped Amelia, surprised over Danny's willingness to throw her under the bus that Lydia was driving.

"Whatever side that gets you socializing."

Lydia let out a laugh and Amelia's glare cut to the strawberry blonde.

"I hate both of you." She concluded.

"Don't care," Sang Lydia, "And don't forget to wear something cute."

Amelia let out a long groan and slowly fell back till she was laying on the table with her eyes closed and her hand rubbing at her forehead. She stayed there till Danny gave the all clear that Lydia was gone.

"Thank Jesus." She breathed.

"Why do you let her order you around like that?" Asked Matt.

A frown came onto Amelia's lips.

"She isn't ordering me around. She's just… She's being Lydia. She's trying to be my friend."

Danny grunted in agreement and directed them back to the laptop. They kept at it till Amelia spotted her sister across the courtyard.

"Be right back, just gotta talk to my sister."

She jumped off the table and dashed to her sister. She grabbed onto her arm and made her jump a little, a small gasp leaving her lips as she turned to face her sister.

"Fucking- Oh my god Amelia!"

"I don't think you should be swearing in front of students."

Eleanor cut her a look and Amelia almost smiled. She let go of her sister's arm before scratching the back of her neck.

"Okay, I'm going to ask you for a favour and you're not allowed to tease me for it whatsoever."

"I get to tease you three times about it or there will be no favours." Negotiated Eleanor.

Amelia rolled her eyes but gave a nod of her head.

"Fine. Fine. I need your help picking out an outfit for tonight's lacrosse game."

Amelia couldn't believe how much that sentence made Eleanor's face light up. Her eyes went wide and a huge grinned formed onto her lips.

"What?! Seriously?!" She half squealed.

"Wow, do I regret this decision immediately."

"No! Okay, I'll calm down. Why me? Why isn't Lydia picking out an outfit for you like last time?"

"Because Lydia gave specific instructions to wear something cute and it didn't sound like she was going to come round and pick it for me. I'm asking you because she loved the grey pants you were wearing on Monday."

Eleanor let out a yes and did a little air punch, making Amelia roll her eyes.

"Alright. I'm in. I got the car back this morning so I can drive us home. You good for pizza for dinner?"

"When am I ever not?"

She let out a light laugh over Amelia's answer and nodded her head.

"Okay. We'll order it in. Meet me in the carpark when school ends and don't forget your appointment with Morell."

Amelia let out an okay before turning to head back to Matt and Danny.

* * *

"How did talking to your sister go?"

Amelia shrugged and watched as Ms Morell had to physically fight rolling her eyes.

"Come on Amelia. This hour will go by much faster if you answer my questions."

"It'll also go much faster if you just let me leave early."

Morell's lips curled into a smile and she shook her head.

"I can't do that… Especially with other students in the waiting room. They'll think they can leave early too."

Amelia leant back in her chair to see Lydia sitting there with her lips pursed.

"It's just Lydia out there. She'll probably want to leave early too so it's a win-win for all of us."

"You know Lydia?"

A sigh left Amelia's lips and she let her eyes flutter closed before nodding her head.

"We're friends. At least… I think that's what we are."

"You think?"

"I don't know. I've only known her for a few days. She knows about my parents being dead and that is usually something that makes people run the other direction."

"Do you think Lydia will run?"

Amelia shook her head.

"I hope not."

Morell smiled and scribbled something down on the paper in front of her.

"That's good, you making friends. It's a sign you're settling into Beacon Hills. Has class gotten better?"

"Harris is still horrible. But Eleanor somehow got me extensions on my midterms so I guess everything is alright."

"And how do you feel about Eleanor teaching here?"

"Weird? Odd? But also not fussed? She doesn't teach me and it just means I see her occasionally in the hallway."

"It doesn't make you feel like she's not your sister?"

Amelia paused. She pressed her lips together and cleared her throat.

"Eleanor said she's going to try to be both."

"Both?"

"Both my sister and my guardian." She sighed.

"That's good! So you talked to her about how you were feeling?"

"Yep."

"And how did that go?"

Amelia folded her arms and didn't answer, making Morell let out a little sigh. Before she could ask another question, Amelia's eyes flicked to the clock to see that their time was up.

"Oh, would you look at that! The hour's up."

Morell looked at the clock and nodded her head.

"It appears so. We'll meet again next week."

Amelia let out an uh huh and got to her feet. She picked up her backpack and slung it over her shoulder before leaving Morell's office.

"You're next."

Amelia said the words to Lydia as she closed the door behind her.

"Please don't remind me… I'll see you at the game tonight right?"

Amelia nodded her head and moved into the hallway.

"Don't forget-"

"To wear something cute. I know, I know!"

* * *

"You're looking very relaxed Ms Oliver."

If Eleanor was the slightest bit bothered by Principal Argent's comment, she definitely didn't show it.

"I'm not on duty, am I? I thought I'd join my sister and support our team."

"Oh of course not. You and your sister are welcome to sit with my granddaughter and I. Allison do you know Ms Oliver's sister?"

"Of course! We're friends. Amelia this is my grandfather."

Allison gave an Amelia a small smile as she introduced her grandfather.

"Pleased to meet you Principal Argent."

"And you, Amelia was it? I'm glad to see you're settling in and making friends."

"Speaking of… Allison, have you seen Lydia?"

Allison shook her head with a little frown.

"Not since school ended."

"Oh. Okay. I'm sure she'll show up."

They were about to lapse into an awkward silence but Eleanor directed them away by suggesting they find some seats. Principal Argent happily agreed and the two adults led the way into the bleachers. Amelia came to walk beside Allison.

"I love what you're wearing." Said Allison.

"Thanks… Lydia ordered I wear something cute so I got Eleanor to help me pick an outfit. As you can see my sister went for something more relaxed."

Allison let out a little laugh.

"My grandfather definitely noticed."

"Oh just wait till he sees the jacket."

Allison raised an eyebrow and Amelia pointed to the back of Eleanor's jacket that had daisies embroidered into the back. Another laugh left her and the two moved up the bleachers before sitting next to their respective counterparts. A groan caught the attention of Amelia when she sat down next to Eleanor. She turned to see her pulling on a fake smile as Coach spotted her and waved enthusiastically.

"Someone seems to like you."

"Ugh don't get me started." Breathed Eleanor.

A slight chuckle left Amelia's lips and Eleanor's smile turned real over the sound of her sister laughing. It didn't take long for the game to start and for Amelia and Eleanor to get distracted by other things. Neither of them were really into sport so as Amelia looked around for Lydia, Eleanor got distracted by her phone buzzing in her pocket. She pulled it out to see a text from Derek.

D: How are you?

E: I'm okay. Still a little shaken from yesterday.

E: Thank you again for driving me home… and for this morning,

D: It's okay. Thank you for breakfast. It's nice to see someone living in the yellow house again.

E: Just how well-known is this house?

"Not a fan of lacrosse?"

Principal Argent's voice jerked Eleanor's attention away from her phone. She dove it back into her pocket and smiled at her boss.

"I'm very much an artsy person rather than a sporty person… Hence being an Art teacher and not a P.E. teacher."

"Plus you suck at sport." Scoffed Amelia.

"Hey! You're not much better!"

"At least I did sports as a kid. Instead of playing hopscotch with me, Eleanor would always get distracted by the chalk and start drawing on the ground."

"You and mom always joined in!"

"That's because we knew we'd never get the chalk back."

Eleanor's laugh was bright but her eyes had a flicker of sadness in them. Amelia saw that and turned away from Eleanor and the Argents, hiding her face behind a curtain of her hair. Eleanor pressed her lips together before turning back to Principal Argent with a forced smile. Allison gazed at Amelia with a slight frown.

"To reiterate, arts any day over sport." Concluded Eleanor.

She felt her phone buzz in her pocket again but she didn't reach for it. She didn't really feel like being chastised by her boss again, no matter how much she wanted to read Derek's response. The game continued on and the next topic of conversation was around the events of last night.

"I heard you were at the autoshop last night, where that poor man was crushed." Brought up Principal Argent.

Both Allison and Amelia reacted in similar ways for very different reasons.

"What?!"

Eleanor let out a little sigh and nodded her head.

"Yeah… I was the one who rang the police. Stiles was the one to find him, though… Have you heard anything? Is he coping okay?"

Even though the question was for Principal Argent, Amelia responded. She let out an amused scoff and pulled the sleeves of her jumper over her hands.

"Stiles was totally fine today. He was running back and forth between Allison and…"

She trailed off when she saw how wide Allison's eyes got.

"And… And I. At lunch time. In practice for tonight."

Allison's expression relaxed and as Eleanor and Principal Argent looked out at the field to spot Stiles, Amelia mouthed a quick apology.

"Is he even in the game?" Asked Eleanor.

Stiles definitely wasn't in the game. He had ditched the game ages ago and was currently stopping at Lydia's car, completely unaware that Derek and Erica were watching him. Well, Erica had a keen eye on him. Derek was half distracted by his phone and waiting for Eleanor to text him back. It didn't happen until twenty minutes later when they were walking through the hallways of the school and Derek's phone buzzed in his back pocket. He didn't check it till Erica had gone to get Stiles and Derek went to wait in the swimming area.

D: Well it's easily the most colourful house in Beacon Hills. I used to pass by it on my way to and from school back when I went to Beacon Hills High.

E: Please tell me you didn't play lacrosse whilst you were here. I'm at the game currently and, well, I'm bored.

D: Fortunately lacrosse wasn't the sport of choice back in my day. It was basketball.

D: Before you ask, yes I was on the team.

E: Back in your day? How old are you?

D: 25.

E: Such an oldie.

D: How old are you then professor?

E: Oh haha, just because I'm a teacher. I'm 23 and not a professor.

Before Derek could respond, his ears picked up the sound of Stiles letting out continuous noises of pain from Erica's guiding of him through the school halls.

Amelia couldn't believe how interesting this game was getting. Everyone was standing on their feet, supporting Beacon Hills as the game turned around.

"Go Scott!" Called out both Amelia and Allison.

They exchanged a look and Allison gave a warm smile. The smile disappeared as Scott was sent flying in the air by one of the massive players of the other team. The whole crowd seemed to flinch over the sound of bone breaking and Allison didn't hesitate to jump from her seat and rush the field to get to him. Eleanor, Principal Argent and Amelia followed, joining the huddle around the injured lacrosse player.

"Don't move!" Exclaimed the Coach.

"Agreed. Can we get a medic?!" Called out Eleanor.

"It's okay, I'm a nurse, he's my son. Scott?"

A curly haired woman pushed her way to the front and Eleanor stepped aside to let her through.

"It's okay… It's okay. I'm fine, I'm fine." Insisted Scott.

"I could've sworn I literally heard bone breaking from where I sat." Said Scott's mum.

"Heard it? I felt it." Commented Coach.

"Seriously, guys. I'm… I'm fine."

There was a pause before everyone seemed to accept Scott's insistence on him being fine. Allison, who had been by his side this whole time, went to her grandfather and said that they should go.

"Hold on," said Principal Argent, "I want to ask him one more thing."

As Principal Argent asked Scott to dinner, Eleanor turned to find Amelia in the crowd of people. She was standing off at the back, her arms wrapped around herself. Eleanor quickly went to her and moved to run a hand over her arm.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

Amelia nodded her head.

"Fine. I'm worried about Lydia. She said she'd be here."

Eleanor frowned and moved to pull Amelia under her arm. They began to walk into the car park, back to Eleanor's car. Amelia paused when she saw one particular car.

"What's up?" Asked Eleanor.

"That's… That's Lydia's car…"

Eleanor looked over at the car Amelia was looking at before releasing Amelia from her hold.

"Go see if she's in there."

Amelia hesitated for a moment before nodding her head and moving to the car. She sighed when she saw Lydia sitting in the driver's seat, silently sobbing to herself. Amelia took a moment before lightly tapping on the window. A soft yelp left Lydia and she looked to see Amelia standing there. Lydia took a moment before unlocking her car and leaning over to open the door. Amelia glanced back at Eleanor who nodded her head and moved to get to her car. Amelia stepped into Lydia's car.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

Eleanor smiled to herself as she walked to her car. She was glad that Amelia seemed to be making friends… She was definitely doing better than Eleanor was whose only friend to date was Derek. Did he even count as a friend? Eleanor had no idea. Speaking of Derek… Eleanor frowned when she saw a familiar car sitting in the car park. It was Derek's black Camaro. She pulled out her phone to check if Derek had messaged her back yet.

He hadn't.

E: Are you at the school? I swear I just walked past your car.

There was no response but she did hear that hissing from last night. Eleanor frowned. The hissing was coming from the school. She looked back at Lydia's car to see Lydia and Amelia both still in there. She gripped tightly onto her phone before heading up to the school and following the sound of the hissing.

It led her past the gym and to the pools.

She didn't dare go in, still terrified to her bone over just the image of the lizard thing. But she did peer into the window to see it on all fours, crouched by the edge of one of the pools. Eleanor's eyes widened. She rubbed at them before checking again to see that the creature was still there. She wasn't imagining in. As if it sensed her then, it suddenly turned towards the door and Eleanor got a good look at it's cold eyes. She was quick to turn and race out of the school.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

 **Wednesday**

Eleanor had no idea what to do about what she had seen. She knew that it was real and that somehow Derek was involved. But he hadn't texted her back and all she could do was draw the creature that she had seen and get no steps closer to an answer.

She didn't tell Amelia anything, knowing that her younger sister was stressing about Chemistry and trying to make friends with Allison and Lydia. Plus she didn't want to burden Amelia with something that made Eleanor seem all types of crazy… So she kept it to herself. That is until she looked out her classroom to see Derek walking down an empty hallway. "Hey! I need to talk to you!"

Eleanor raced out of her empty classroom when she saw Derek walk past her door. The hallways were empty, the only sound filling the space was the sound of her boots hitting the floor.

"I don't have time Eleanor. I got things I need to do."

"One of those things is going to be spending time at the police station if you don't stop and talk to me. By the looks of it you're trespassing on school grounds. I don't see a guest badge anywhere on you."

Derek stopped in the middle of the hallway and turned to see Eleanor staring at him with her arms folded across her chest, a smug smile on her lips. Derek pressed his lips together and shot her a small glare.

"Fine. What do you want to talk about?"

"I want to know what the hell that green lizard thing is."

Derek's glare dropped. He quickly closed the distance between them, eyes taking all of her in before meeting hers.

"What?" He hissed.

Eleanor took a small step back, a little intimidated at how close he suddenly was.

"Twice now I've seen this green lizard thing. The first time was when I was at the mechanic. The second time was after the lacrosse game when I saw it in the school gym. And you know what else I've seen both times?"

Derek raised an eyebrow, watching as Eleanor reached out to poke his chest.

"You."

Derek cursed under his breath and looked around the hallway before meeting her gaze again.

"There somewhere less public we can talk?"

Eleanor nodded her head and turned to walk back into her classroom. Derek half considered just dashing off then and not having to have this conversation with her… But he had a funny feeling that Eleanor wasn't the type of person who would let this go. Plus she had his number. So he followed after her. He walked into the classroom to discover it was an art room. A wave of nostalgia came back to him as he began to smell the different types of paint and a hint of Eleanor's own scent mixed within it.

"You're an art teacher?" He asked.

She folded her arms across her chest and pursed her lips at him.

"Start talking."

Derek sighed. He closed the door to the art room and immediately sensed the slight spike in Eleanor's mood. She was nervous. The brave facade she had on was broken by her eyes flicking to the now closed door before going back to him. Her heart had begun beating a little faster and Derek knew that her palms were beginning to get a little sweaty.

A part of him was bothered by her reacting like this… But he still used it to his advantage and slowly began circling around room, looking over the students' work and back at her as he spoke.

"Are you sure you want to know what it is?" He asked.

"Yes." She answered a little too quickly.

He raised an eyebrow and moved to stand in front of her.

"Are you sure?"

His eyes flicked to hers. He paused momentarily over just how clear of a grey they were. He had never seen eyes like hers before and they made him wonder if there was some sort of supernatural in her heritage. But his senses didn't suggest that… No his senses told him to tell her a little and see how far she went with it.

Her eyes locked with his and she gave a slow, purposeful nod, regaining her grip over her nerves.

"Yes." She repeated.

This time the word left her lips in a way that made Derek believe that she had no doubts about what she wanted to know. And she did want to know. It had only been two days but the image of the green lizard had been itching at her; gnawing away in the back of her mind and giving her something to think about that wasn't her relationship with her sister or how shit of a person Harris was or her doubts of her abilities as an art teacher.

Derek held her gaze for a moment longer before answering.

"It's called a kanima."

When the words left his lips he took a step away and watched as her face formed a frown. She looked down at a piece of paper on her desk and brushed her fingers over it, trying to process the information.

"And a kanima is?"

"A supernatural being… A shapeshifter. When it's not a lizard it's a human."

Eleanor let out a scoff and picked the piece of paper up. She held it out to Derek, an amused look on her face.

"You're telling me that this is a human?"

On the paper were a few drawings of the kanima. Derek's eyebrow raised again and he nodded his head approvingly.

"Did you draw those? They're quite good."

"You have to be somewhat good at art to teach it, Derek. Now I want the truth. How is this a shapeshifter?"

"It's a shapeshifter in the same way I am."

Him flashing his red alpha eyes at her made the drawing fall from her hand and her skin turn almost as pale as her sister's. Her nervousness had returned and spiked, overwhelming Derek as he changed his eyes back. Had he gone too far?

"You turn into a lizard?" She asked, voice quiet and a little shaky.

He couldn't help but smirk over that comment. He took a step back towards her and picked the drawing up. He leant across her to place it back on the desk, eyes meeting hers as he drew back to stand in front of her.

"No. I'm more of a canine than a reptile."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"It means I'm a werewolf, Eleanor. It means that all those things that go bump in the night are real. It means that there are students here that are like me, some of them aren't, and that one of them is a homicidal killer lizard."

When she didn't say anything in response, Derek nodded his head and moved to leave her classroom. His senses were wrong. She couldn't handle the information. Telling her was a mistake he'd probably regret very, very quickly.

Just as he was about to open the door, she spoke.

"Which students?" She asked.

Derek turned back to see her still leaning on her desk, her grey eyes fixed on him.

"What?"

"I asked which students. My sister goes to this school. I'm all she has left so I need to know who if I'm going to protect her."


	12. Chapter 12

_A/N: The episode I have watched the most out of Teen Wolf is Season 2, Episode Five. I swear at this point I know all of the lines to that damn Chemistry scene and that is why this chapter took so long to write. Season 2 was so long ago, and because of that, it's so hard to trudge through. But trudging I will do because I love Eleanor and Amelia and their dynamic and storylines, especially in Season 3. I just gotta get us there._

 _Hopefully, some of you are still around to read this. If you are, I'm sorry this has taken so long to update. But we'll get through Season 2 as our beloved show comes to an end on screen._

* * *

 **Chapter Twelve**

 _Thursday_

"Einstein once said, "Two things are infinite: The universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe…"

Amelia rolled her eyes as Mr Harris stopped and patted Stiles' shoulder. She rested her hand on her cheek and looked about the classroom, noticing Allison, who was sat next to her, give Scott and Stiles an odd look. She looked past Scott and Stiles to see the guy she had bumped into the first day at school sitting behind Scott, Stiles and Lydia. He no longer had a bruise on his cheek and was dressed in a leather jacket.

"Start with Mr McCall. All right, next two… Ms Oliver, you're station two and Mr Lahey, you may join her."

Amelia watched as the boy from the first day stood and went over to her. Allison stood and let Isaac take her seat, giving him a warning look the Amelia didn't understand. As Mr Harris continued to assign stations, the guy turned to her.

"I know you." He said.

"Uh, I asked you for directions my first day here." Answered Amelia.

"Right… Right… I'm assuming you know your way around the school now?"

Amelia shrugged and locked eyes with him.

"I'm getting my head wrapped around it. I'm ah, I'm Amelia by the way."

"Isaac."

He gave her a confident smile and Amelia's lips didn't move too hard to try and form the smile's she didn't have anymore.

"We should get started on this."

Amelia indicated to the equipment in front of them and Isaac nodded his head. Amelia concentrated on the experiment, only looking up when Mr Harris dinged the bell and Isaac got up to leave.

"I'll see you around, Amelia."

He gave her another smile and she gave a small wave, watching as he walked away. She caught Lydia's eye, seeing the smug smirk on her lips. Amelia rolled her eyes and ignored her new friend. She nodded her head as a student sat next to her, joining her for the second round of the station. They two barely interacted and only concentrated on the experiment. When the bell rang again Danny came to sit next to her.

"You seemed to be having a very lively conversation with Madison there."

"Who's Madison?"

"The girl you just spent the last five minutes with."

Amelia let out an oh and Danny laughed. The two continued on with the experiment, only stopping when Mr Harris rang his bell again.

"Time. If you've catalyzed the reaction correctly, you should now be looking at a crystal."

At Mr Harris' words, Amelia picked up the beaker they had been conducting the experiment in to see something that definitely didn't look like a crystal. She raised her eyebrows and exchanged a look with Danny who was trying to figure out whatever was in the beaker as well.

"Now for the part of the last experiment, I'm sure you'll all enjoy - You can eat it."

Amelia scoffed at Mr Harris' words and Danny laughed.

"If we eat that I'm sure we'll die." He commented.

"So we should get Harris to eat it?" Suggested Amelia.

Danny grinned and they both turned to look at Scott when he called out Lydia's name.

"What?" Replied Lydia.

She had a look on her face like she thought Scott was insane. Scott stared at her hopelessly for a few moments before sitting back on his stool.

"Nothing."

Lydia shrugged and proceeded to eat a perfect crystal, making both Danny and Amelia stare at her with wide eyes.

"How did she make it like that?!" Hissed Amelia.

"I have no idea." Responded Danny.

He got up from his seat as Mr Harris instructed them to return to their originals spot for the rest of the class. Danny waved goodbye to Amelia and she waved back. She watched as Allison went to sit with Scott and Stiles instead of coming back to her.

"Is everyone acting weird today?"

Amelia looked to see Lydia letting out a huff as she collapsed into the seat next to her. She looked around the chemistry class to see everyone looking at them… Or rather just looking at Lydia.

"Yes. Definitely." Agreed Amelia.

She turned back to the test tube in front of them trying to figure out what had gone wrong in trying to catalyze the crystal properly. Chemistry was not her strong point so as she opened her mouth to ask Lydia, she found the strawberry blonde staring at her curiously.

"What?" She asked.

"You and Lahey seemed to get along nicely when the two of you were paired up together."

Amelia scoffed and shook her head, denying whatever Lydia was trying to imply.

"I don't know him. I don't know anyone here."

"You know me!" Said a different voice.

Both girls looked up to see Danny standing back at the table, grinning at them.

"And you know me. Don't be such a sour puss, Amelia."

Amelia rolled her eyes at the two of them before turning back to Danny.

"What are you doing back here?" She asked.

"I just want to let you know I found a program that'll recover Jackson's missing video. I'm going to work on it in our free period if you want to join me?"

"And interrupt your bonding time with Matt? I may not know anyone but I definitely know that you're interested in him."

Danny's mouth fell open and Lydia let out an interested oo. Amelia was so close to a smile over both of their reactions, especially when Danny shook his head and left their table with a word to either of them.

* * *

Eleanor was stressed.

She was also freaking out.

And she was also drinking her fifth cup of coffee that day and it was only 11AM.

It had been 18 hours since Derek had broken the news to her that werewolves are real and her reality was a lie and that she may be teaching a homicidal lizard. So if you added stress to her whole life perspective being reassessed twice in a year to a night full of no sleep?

It was no surprise her hands were shaking and every now and then she'd had to grip onto her desk to steady herself. Anyone had to just look at her to see that she was frazzled and when one of her coworkers asked if she was okay, she just stared blankly at them before it clicked that they had spoken to her.

"Sorry, what?" She asked.

"Okay, I'm taking this from you."

Her coworker, a woman she hadn't met yet, easily took her fifth cup and set it down on the table next to them. She then guided Eleanor to sit down, looking her over with cautious eyes.

"Sorry, I didn't get much sleep last night." Explained Eleanor.

"I guessed that much from the coffee. Something on your mind?"

"Got some pretty jarring news yesterday that made me reevaluate everything and my roof creaks when there's windy weather."

That made a laugh come from the woman and Eleanor felt herself ease a little at a proper interaction with someone who wasn't a teenager or a werewolf.

"You're much more opening than your sister." Commented the woman.

Eleanor frowned over the comment before it clicked who this woman could be.

"How do you… Oh! You must be the counsellor!"

"Also the French teacher. I'm Marin, and you're Eleanor right?"

Eleanor nodded her head and out of habit went to reach for her coffee again, but Marin placed her hand on the cup and gave Eleanor a look that made her retract her hand and give the counsellor a guilty look.

"Maybe you should schedule an appointment so we can deal with this caffeine addiction?" Suggested Marin.

Eleanor's cheeks flushed pink and she moved to run her fingers through her hair.

"Pretty sure a caffeine addiction is the least of my worries at the moment..."

"Well if you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here. Either as a friend or a counsellor."

Eleanor's grey eyes flicked to Marin, surprise coursing through her over the offer. It suddenly clicked that because this woman was meeting with Amelia, she knew about Eleanor's parents and had an insight into her sister. So, Eleanor nodded her head and gave Marin a soft smile before thanking her for the offer. Her smile fell when she saw Bobby Finstock walk into the staff room. A groan left her lips and she used her hair to shield her face, crouching down to hide from the sports coach. Marin raised an eyebrow and turned to see the coach, an amused expression dancing on her lips as she turned back to Eleanor.

"Bobby shown an interest in you, has he?"

Eleanor nodded her head and rubbed at her forehead.

"I'm most definitely not in the place to date anyone, especially not him."

"Well he's afraid of me so stick with me and he'll avoid you."

She gave Eleanor a playful wink and a real smile danced onto the Art teacher's face.

"I'm glad you took that coffee from my hands, Marin."

"No problem. Can I give you a piece of advice?"

Eleanor let out a sure and sat back up, stopping herself from reaching for the coffee.

"Be careful who you make friends with in this town. There are some people who you should avoid."

Eleanor's smile dropped and her eyes flicked to Marin, seeing a look of warning in her face and a look in her eyes that made Eleanor think of Derek and everyone he had told her about yesterday.

* * *

"Amelia! You're relatively normal. Come study with us."

Lydia latched onto her arm and began pulling her down the hallway with her before she could even think to react. She looked around the group and frowned over the mix. Stiles and Allison were there, both glancing between each other, Lydia, and everyone else worriedly, and so was someone she still thought was called Jack. She knew he was in her Chemistry class and was friends with Danny, but that was about it. He caught her frowning at him and looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"Amelia. Who are you?"

He didn't answer her. He looked back ahead and Lydia rolled her eyes.

"That's Jackson."

Amelia let out a little 'oh'. So this was Lydia's dick of an ex-boyfriend. She could see how they dated… He looked like a male model. Nothing was said after Amelia's little 'oh' but she could feel how tense Lydia was over being near her ex. She gently squeezed Lydia's arm and in return got a small, genuine smile. The group continued to walk through the school, Amelia looking around again to see that Stiles, Allison and Jackson, were standing around Lydia the way bodyguards would stand around the person they were hired to protect.

"Amelia!"

She looked to see Eleanor coming down the hallway towards them. There was a slightly frazzled expression on her face that made Amelia think that she had either drunk too much coffee or inhaled a few too many paint fumes. She pulled herself out of Lydia's grip and went up to her.

"Yeah?" She asked.

"Do you want a lift home? There's something we need to talk about."

"I ah… I was going to go with them to study. Can we talk when I get home?"

Eleanor looked behind Amelia to see her friends staring at them. Eleanor's gaze lingered on Allison as Derek's words of warning about her being from a family of werewolf hunters came back to her. She then looked at Lydia and remembered how not only had Derek mentioned her, but so had half the staff.

"El? You there?"

Her eyes flicked back to Amelia and she forced a smile.

"Yeah. We can talk when you get home."

"Great, I'll see you then. Bye."

"Wait… How are you going to get home?"

Amelia, who had begun to turn away from her sister, slowly turned back with her mouth slowly falling open. She didn't have an answer but luckily Lydia did. She skipped up to Amelia and laced her arm through hers again, smiling sweetly at Eleanor.

"I can drop her home. You live down the street from me so it's no hassle."

Eleanor forced a smile and nodded her head.

"Perfect. Thank you, Lydia."

Lydia smiled and tugged Amelia back to her friends. They began walking again. Jackson was looking at Amelia with interested eyes.

"The new art teacher is your sister?" He asked.

"Obviously." Snapped Amelia.

* * *

Amelia had stuck to Lydia's side since Lydia had grabbed her in the hallway and forced her to join in on the study group. It wasn't much a study group… Everyone was still acting weird as they arrived at Scott's house without Scott.

"If we're studying at Scott's house, then where's Scott?" Asked Lydia.

"I was just thinking the exact same thing…" Added Amela.

"Meeting us here, I think. I hope." Answered Stiles.

Amelia frowned and looked Stiles over before shaking her head and turning to Lydia.

"Everyone is definitely acting weird today." She said.

"Believe me," sighed Lydia, "I know."

They all stepped into Scott's house and then watched as Stiles proceeded to lock and bolt the front door. Both Lydia and Amelia exchanged an odd look before turning to look at Stiles with it.

"Uh, there's been a few break-ins around the neighbourhood." Explained Stiles.

He then grabbed a chair and both of the girls' looks doubled.

"And a murder. Yeah, it was bad."

Stiles shot them a smile and Amelia rolled her eyes before turning to Lydia.

"I guess we better start studying? Can you tell me why your crystal catalyzed and mine didn't? It's been bothering me all day."

Lydia opened her mouth to respond, the look on her face showing she was smug about it. But before she could answer, Jackson spoke.

"Lydia, follow me. I need to talk to you for a minute."

Lydia rolled her eyes and gave Amelia an apologetic look before turning to follow her ex.

"Seriously? What is going with everyone?" She muttered.

Amelia watched the person she was closest to in the room walk out, leaving her with Allison and Stiles. She turned to face them, moving to pull her books out of her bag.

"Where should we set up?" She asked.

"Ah, the living room." Answered Allison.

Amelia followed Allison into the living room and sat down to set her books up. She expected Allison to follow suit but she was called back by Stiles.

"Ah… Allison? Can you come here for a second?"

Allison let out a yep and moved to rejoin Stiles, leaving Amelia alone with her books. She was sat there for about 10 minutes before deciding that she'd check on Lydia. She got to her feet and went up the staircase that she'd seen Jackson lead Lydia up. The staircase led to a hallway that was nicely decorated… Scott's house actually reminded Amelia of her family's home back in San Francisco. She let out a nostalgic sigh and paused when she heard the sound of glass breaking downstairs.

Before she could find out what it was, Lydia was by her side with tears streaming down her face.

"Amelia? What's… What's going on?" She asked, voice shaky.

"I have no idea. Are you okay? Why are you crying? What the hell did Jackson do?"

Lydia brushed at her cheeks and before she could say anything, Allison was in front of them.

"Get back. Someone's trying to break in, okay. Go. Lydia, Amelia, go!"

Amelia felt Lydia grab onto her arm and pull her into a bedroom that she assumed was Scott's. Jackson was nowhere to be seen as Lydia closed the bedroom door and continued to drag Amelia by the arm. She pulled her into the adjoining bathroom and closed the door, her hand letting going of Amelia's arm so she could shakily pull out her phone.

"Are you calling the police?" Asked Amelia.

Lydia shakily nodded her head and dialled the number before bringing the phone to her ear and letting out a shaky sob.

"Hi, I- I need the police."

Lydia then rattled off the address of where they were and hung up the phone before going to the other side of the bathroom and sliding down against the wall by the sink, stuffing herself into the corner. Amelia took in a shaky breath, still not sure on what the hell was going on, but decided that her top priority at the moment was the crying girl in front of her. She crouched down in front of Lydia and reached out to touch her knee.

"Lydia, it's okay. We're going to be okay."

Reacting to her touch and her voice, Lydia moved into the blonde. It took Amelia a second to react to Lydia but she wrapped her arms around her and held her tightly, hugging her through the soft, terrified sobs.

The two clung to each other, both jumping at the sound of a thud in Scott's room but staying exactly where they were till the sound of sirens rang out across the street. Lydia pulled out of Amelia's grip and sucked in a deep breath, listening out to hear if anyone was in the room outside the bathroom door. When it sounded like there wasn't, Lydia rose to her feet and Amelia followed before taking the lead and opening the bathroom door to reveal an empty room. They stepped into the bedroom, Lydia reaching out to grip onto Amelia's hand who lead them back downstairs.

They took in the mess of the house, a once nice and homely place that was now filled with broken furniture and glass. The front door was wide open and they saw Allison, Stiles and Scott standing on the patio. Seeing them standing there made Lydia's attitude come back. She didn't let go of Amelia's hand but she dragged her out of the house and onto the patio.

"Would someone please tell me what the hell is going on?!" Exclaimed Lydia.

Amelia would've voiced her agreement but her voice was stuck in her throat at the sight in front of her. Isaac and Erica laying on the grass, being helped to their feet by a boy who she knew went to their school, but that wasn't what had her speechless. What had her speechless was the sight of the man she had seen on Sunday at the house in the reserve. She saw his eyes widen at the sight of her but she didn't hear the curse that left his lips and made Scott frown.

* * *

"Amelia? Can you hold on a second? We need to talk."

Amelia walked straight past her. She headed up the stairs and Eleanor heard her bedroom door closed. When she didn't hear music begin to play, she knew something was up. So… Eleanor pulled out her phone and rang Derek.

" _Hey, Eleanor now's not really a good time-"_

"What the hell happened?"

" _... What do you mean?"_

"I mean my sister just came home and isn't playing music. She always plays music. I know something happening. Something bad and probably something supernatural."

" _I'll come over and explain."_

"Good. Be here-"

She was cut off by Derek hanging up on her.


	13. Chapter 13

_This chapter is a nightmare and a half. To be blunt, it's filler. I'm desperate to get out of season two and chapter 13 is just unlucky. Expect more soon._

 **Chapter Thirteen**

 **Friday**

 _ **Early that morning**_

Eleanor tried to wait up for Derek to come to her house and explain what the hell had gone on. But when it hit midnight she knew that she desperately needed some sleep, so she retreated upstairs to her room and collapsed onto her bed. She fell asleep the instant her eyes closed, whole body screaming from relief over finally getting to sleep over a night before of no sleep and a full day of running off mediocre coffee. So when a knock, one coming from the glass doors that led to the balcony, woke her up a couple hours later, she definitely wasn't happy.

At first she thought it was a dream. But then it happened again and came with a hiss of her name so she pulled herself out of bed and to the balcony. She drew back the curtains to reveal Derek standing there.

She stared at him for a long moment, trying to blink herself awake and figure out why he was on her balcony. He rolled his eyes and rattled the door handle, prompting her to open it. And she did. There were no thoughts over him being a werewolf or him just being on her balcony in the dead of night… Just the thought that she wanted this to be over with so she could get back to sleep.

"Finally." He muttered.

"You're one to talk. I rang you hours ago." Replied Eleanor.

"Sorry, I was busy hunting a homicidal lizard."

"Did my sister see this lizard?"

"I don't know."

"Then what did she see?"

Derek stared at Eleanor for a long moment before letting out a gentle growl and rubbing the back of his neck.

"Me and my pack, outside of Scott McCall's house with the cops on their way."

Eleanor cursed under her breath and moved to begin pacing.

"She really should get new friends if you don't want her involved in all this." Commented Derek.

"Do you not remember what high school is like?" Retorted Eleanor.

"It's not a time I look back on fondly, so no."

"It's hard alright? Especially as the new kid with no parents. She has some sort of friends… Even if they are some weird supernatural lot. Plus, Amelia is stubborn. I couldn't get her to find new friends even if I tried."

Derek shrugged and stepped back towards her balcony door.

"I can't do anything then."

"You can keep your pack away from her." Shot back Eleanor.

"And what about you?" Asked Derek. Eleanor scoffed and frowned at the alpha.

"What about me?" She asked.

"Should I be trying my best to keep the supernatural and myself away from you?" He replied.

Eleanor stopped to realise she hadn't thought about herself at all. Her thoughts had been completely focused on Amelia. Derek stared at the teacher, waiting for her to answer. A part of him wanted her to say no.

"Yes." She answered, voice soft as sleep creeped back in.

Derek nodded his head and left through the balcony door. Eleanor waited until he had disappeared to lock the door, close the curtains, and collapse back into her bed. She had hoped the sleep would be there to welcome her with open arms. But it took a lot of coaxing and counting of sheep to fall back asleep.

 _ **Later that morning**_

Eleanor woke up as tired as she had been when she first went to sleep. She rubbed at her eyes and stared up at the ceiling, wanting to do anything but face the day.

But she dragged herself out of bed and into the bathroom, not an inch of her usual chirpy self anywhere. The cold shower she had helped a little to wake her up, getting a glimpse of her sister in the hallway reminded her that she had to pick herself up to face Amelia, and the smell of coffee wafting upstairs gave her a desire to get dressed and hunt down some coffee. It wasn't until she was dressed in a pair of floral pants, with a black top and matching black boots, that she felt somewhat capable of facing the day.

With a deep breath, she made her way downstairs to find Amelia sitting at the breakfast counter with earphones nestled firmly into her ears. She was sat in front of a couple textbooks, barely acknowledging that Eleanor was awake and in the kitchen with her. Eleanor tried to concentrate on pouring herself a coffee, trying to distract herself from the thoughts of what her sister may have gone through last night. But Derek had said that Amelia didn't see anything; she didn't see fangs or a lizard… Just Derek and the three teeangers he had turned into werewolves.

A soft ow left Eleanor as her coffee over spilled and some of it got on her, she released a little curse and went to the sink to run her hand under the water. She looked to see that Amelia hadn't noticed Eleanor burning herself. To be completely honest, Amelia had barely noticed anything that morning. She had tripped over her shoes when getting out of bed and then hadn't noticed that she had forgotten to turn on the hot water in her morning shower so she had stepped straight into a freezing cold shower. She had been in a bit of a daze, replaying everything that had happened last night at Scott's house as she tried to make sense of it all.

And she couldn't. She couldn't figure out what Isaac and the other two people from her Chemistry class were doing there. She couldn't figure out where Jackson had gone. She couldn't figure out why Allison had told her and Lydia to hide in the bathroom. She couldn't figure out the terrible silence that filled the car as Allison dropped them home. She couldn't figure out how the creepy guy from the house was involved. She also couldn't figure out the Maths equation in front of her, but that wasn't really high on her list of concerns at the moment.

It wasn't until Eleanor briefly touched her shoulder that she realized her sister was in the kitchen. Amelia pulled an earphone out and looked up at her sister, nodding her head in agreement when she said they better get going so that they weren't late for school. Together, each in their own daze, the two sisters headed off to Beacon Hills High.

Somehow, Eleanor got through teaching the day. She wasn't completely there, mind still set on worrying about her sister. Was she hanging out with the people Derek had warned her about? Was Derek staying true to his promise and keeping his pack away from them? What she didn't know was that Scott, Stiles and Jackson weren't even at school. Even Allison was missing from some classes so Amelia tried to hang out with Lydia but there was a heavily charged silence between the two, neither mentioning what had happened the night before but both so clearly talking about it. Amelia had planned on spending most of the day with Danny, but he was missing too. It wasn't until fourth period that she found out from Matt that Danny was in the hospital. So when the bell for lunch rang out, Amelia hunted out to find Eleanor.

She was sitting in her empty classroom, staring at her drawings of the kanima and getting consumed in the thoughts that had been haunting her all day. She snapped back to reality when she heard the door open a close. Eleanor quickly hid the drawings and looked up to see Amelia walk in.

"Amelia, hey!" Greeted Eleanor happily, some of her usual chirpiness back.

She watched as Amelia looked around the art room. Seeing as she didn't take art, she had never been in her sister's classroom before. She wandered over to Eleanor's desk and sat down on a chair opposite her older sister.

"What's up?" Asked Eleanor.

Amelia took in a deep breath, considering whether or not to talk to her sister and tell her everything about what had happened last night. Ms Morrell's words came back to her from one of their sessions, advice about opening up to Eleanor and giving her a chance to let her act as a sister. It didn't take long for Amelia to class weird interactions with her classmates as something she wouldn't tell her sister about. So, she opted for something easier.

"My friend Danny is in the hospital. I was wondering if you could take me to visit him after school."

All of Eleanor's chirp came back at this request. Her face visibility lit up at the request. She knew Danny from one of her classes. She thought he was nice and funny and she hadn't heard anything about him from Derek so that put him in a box which Eleanor was more than happy to usher Amelia towards.

"Yeah, of course." She said.

Amelia nodded her head and looked around for a second before taking in a deep breath and rising to her feet.

"Cool. Thanks. I ah, I guess I'll go back to lunch."

"Why not just hang out in here?"

Eleanor fully expected Amelia to scoff, shake her head, make some angsty comment about how hanging out with her sister at school would be a sad thing to do. But instead Amelia hesitated for a moment before sitting down and nodding her head. There was a tedious silence between the two of them, both unsure of what to say or do now that they had locked in time with the other. As usual, Eleanor was the one to break the silence.

"Mr Harris still giving you trouble?"

Amelia scoffed and shook her head to herself as she pulled her lunch out of her bag.

"I think he hates kids."

Eleanor let out a laugh and nodded her head.

"Look, I don't think you're wrong. I've never heard him say one good thing about any of his students… Actually, I've never seen him talk to anyone in the staff room. I think he hates people."

It was Amelia's turn to let out a little laugh, unaware of the soft smile creeping onto her lips. The two sisters dove deep into a conversation about Beacon Hills High, swapping goss and opinions about the teachers and other students.

"Have you met Matt Daehler?" Asked Eleanor.

Amelia raised an eyebrow and looked at her sister over her sandwich, giving a nod of her head.

"A couple times. He helped Danny and I out with something."

"You should get to know him more, I think the two of you have a lot in common," suggested Eleanor, "the kid's got a good eye for photography and I think he's in the school's yearbook club?"

"The 'kid'? Just how old do you think you are?"

Eleanor was taken aback by Amelia teasing her. She let out a half shocked, half laughter sort of noise and shook her head at her younger sister.

"You're all still kids! Hence kids!" She insisted.

Her mind went straight back to the issues she'd been thinking about since Amelia came home last night. Her sister, the ones Derek had turned into werewolves, Amelia's friends, they were all kids.

What she didn't know was that at that very moment, some of those kids were in the woods doing some very un-kidlike things.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen**

 **Saturday**

It didn't take very long to Lydia and Amelia to get back to normal, or at least their version of normal. The next today the two of them were laying on Lydia's bed studying. Rather, Amelia was laying down and Lydia was sat up with her back leant against the headboard as she listened to the long, dull groan that left Amelia over the coursework in front of her.

"Surely knowing about Winston Churchill and what he did in World War Two isn't going to benefit me at all in the future." Whined Amelia.

Lydia let out a soft humph and continued to scan the notes in front of her.

"You'd be surprised what things from the past can be useful in the future…" She hummed.

"Like what?"

"Like Latin. Used that last night."

"Whatever in the world did you need Latin for?"

Amelia moved to sit up, crossing her legs and facing her extremely smart friend.

"Allison needed a translation." Shrugged Lydia.

Her blaise dropping of this encounter stumped Amelia. She frowned at Lydia, staring at her in a way that one could interpret as a reaction to her growing another head.

"What the fuck did Allison need translating from Latin? That's weird, isn't it?"

Lydia looked up at Amelia, her attention finally going away from her notes and to her friend to see the confused look. It was only then that it hit Lydia that Allison's request was weird. Infinitely so.

"I mean, well, yes it was weird."

All sense in herself was gone as she tried to fumble her way through an explanation for her friend's odd request.

"Was it as weird as what happened on Thursday at Scott's?" Continued Amelia.

Lydia gaped at her for a long moment before shaking her head.

"Nothing is as weird as what happened on Thursday at Scott's." She admitted.

"So that isn't a normal thing?"

"No, definitely not. I mean sometimes they're weird but that was terrifying."

"Did Allison say anything to you when she dropped you off?"

"Just to keep quiet about what I say which frankly I have no idea _what_ I saw."

Amelia let out a gentle groan and laid back down on the bed. Talking about it with Lydia brought her no closer to figuring out what the hell was going on. She had no idea either.

"Do you at least know who those people outside the house were?" She asked.

"You mean Derek and the people from our school?"

"Yeah. Who are they?"

Amelia moved to be resting on her arms, looking at Lydia as she took in a deep breath and launched into explaining who Derek Hale was and who the three people he was with were.

On the other side of the city, Eleanor was about to find out more about the infamous Derek Hale. After two days of not knowing much and trying to figure it all out, she had cracked and figured she'd get some real answers from Derek. She had tried ringing him but got no answer so she figured she'd go back to the place she had first met him, the reserve.

Dressed in her woolly grey jumper to fight off the weird Beacon Hills chill, she got out of her car and set off to hopefully find the brooding werewolf. After twenty minutes of walking, she stopped and took in a deep breath, wondered if what she was about to do was stupid or not, and plunged straight into it.

"DEREK?!"

She called out his name the way you'd call out a "cooo-eee" out to a canyon. She heard his name echo about before hearing a twig break. She turned to see him standing there with an eyebrow raised.

"You called?" He asked.

"I can't believe that worked."

One of her ridiculous grins were painted on her lips, plunging Derek into this disarray of not knowing whether to roll his eyes or smile back. He went with the first one.

"What do you want Eleanor? I thought you wanted me to leave you alone."

"Well yes, but I also decided that I want to know a bit more about whatever the fuck is going on before that. Also…"

She trailed off and Derek raised an eyebrow, hearing her heartbeat spike a little.

"Also?" He prompted.

"You're kind of my only friend in this town and I didn't want to spend another day marking or trying to force a conversation with my sister."

Her admission makes her cheeks go a furious red and a smile finally appear on his lips.

"You're a loser."

"Hey! You're the one who responded to me calling out your name in the middle of the woods."

"Only a loser would do that."

"Oh shut it."

A soft laugh left him and he motioned to a direction ahead of her.

"Come on."

He began moving and with a smile, she followed. She kept up with him, their steps relatively in sync as Derek led her somewhere. She wasn't sure why she trusted him. It never really occurred to her that she should be wary of the werewolf walking next to her.

"What are you doing in the woods anyways?" Asked Eleanor.

"I live around here." Responded Derek.

Eleanor let out a soft huh and looked around, trying to figure out where he would be living. They were in a reserve after all. Derek rolled his eyes, plainly seeing her thought process.

"I don't live in the trees if that's what you're thinking."

"Actually I was thinking more of a cave? Or a den."

"Funny. Because I'm a werewolf."

Eleanor grinned and Derek let out a deep sigh.

"My family home is in the woods." He said.

"Oh? Is that where you live then? A house is much better than a den."

"It was burnt down six years ago… Most of my family perished in the fire."

When Eleanor had set out to find out more about Derek today, she had not expected one of things for her to learn would be that most of his family had died in a fire. She stared at him in disbelief, completely unsure of how to respond.

"You don't need to say anything, it's okay. You get to a point where it doesn't matter what people say. It's already happened. Words won't change that." Shrugged Derek.

In response, Eleanor let out a heavy sigh. Somehow Derek had pinpointed her exact feels over the last few months.

"I know exactly what you mean."

Eleanor rubbed her forehead, not noticing his curious once-over as a result of her words.

"How do you know?" He asked.

Eleanor paused. Her hand dropped from her forehead and she came to a stop, turning to face Derek.

"My ah, my parents died in a car crash a few months ago."

"Your comment the other day then, that's why."

"My comment?" Asked Eleanor.

"About Amelia. You said that it was hard enough fitting into a new school, let alone with dead parents." Recited Derek.

Her face dropped in disbelief.

"I… I said that?"

Derek nodded his head, "With time it gets easier. It becomes a part of your life. You drop it in a conversation like it's something in the past because it is."

They paused for a moment, Derek gauging Eleanor's reaction as she processed his words. After a moment she nodded her head and they continued walking.

"Does it ever hurt less?" She asked after a few minutes of silence.

"The pain… It'll go away eventually. But there will always be a bit of an ache, a space that they've left in you."

"Good," breathed Eleanor, "I don't want them gone completely."

"Wait so, let me get this straight."

Lydia refrained from sighing. This was the third time Amelia had stopped Lydia to get an explanation straight in her mind.

"Derek Hale was arrested for murder, allegedly attacking you, Allison, Scott, Stiles and Jackson in the school, had his whole family killed in a fire, and is still allowed to be roaming about freely in Beacon Hills?"

"Yep." Confirmed Lydia.

"And who are the three people who were there with him?"

"Isaac, Erica and Boyd. Isaac and Erica are in our Chemistry class."

"So then why the hell are they hanging out with Derek? What were they doing at Scott's house?"

"I have no clue."

"Okay well, then how is Jackson involved in all this?"

"I don't know Amelia! Jackson doesn't talk to me anymore, alright?! He wants nothing to do with me!"

Amelia gaped at Lydia as she took in a deep breath after her little outburst. She was pretty much on the verge of tears.

"What makes you say that?" She asked carefully.

"He… He wanted his key back. That's what he wanted to talk to me about Thursday."

Amelia's face fell and she moved across the bed to sit next to her. Without a second thought, she placed her arm around the strawberry blonde and gave her a half hug.

"You deserve so much better than Jackson. I'm sorry he was a dick."

Lydia let out a huff and raised a hand to brush a few stray tears away.

"I do deserve better than Jackson."

"Exactly! You're way prettier than him, and your heart isn't made of ice, and hey, at least you know classical Latin?"

"I know archaic Latin too."

Amelia let out a whew and shook her head in disbelief.

"I am stealing all of your notes in the future."

"Yeah well, between you and Allison I should start charging for my skills."

"What did she want you to translate anyways?" Asked Amelia.

Lydia shrugged and moved to lay down on her bed and turn back to her history notes.

"I don't know, something about a kanima needing a master."

"Alright so you were born in Beacon Hills, then what? Did you spend all of your time here?"

Derek shook his head and angled them so they were curving as they walked.

"No, I moved to New York for a while with my sister Laura."

"No way! My parents were New Yorkers."

"Yeah? How did they end up in San Francisco?"

Eleanor smiled softly to herself. She loved the story of how their parents got together.

"My mum moved there after finishing college. She got a job and had to leave my dad to accept it. He ran after her… Missed his graduation to follow my mother to San Francisco."

"That's…"

He trailed off and Eleanor raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to answer.

"Romantic?" She suggested.

"Well, yes. But also foolish. What if your father couldn't find work in San Francisco?"

"They had each other, isn't that enough?"

Derek shook his head and Eleanor rolled her eyes at him.

"Don't tell me you don't believe in love?" She asked.

"Love doesn't keep people alive."

It was almost poetic how the timing of their conversation matched up with them arriving at the burnt down Hale house. Eleanor froze when she saw the burnt down Hale house. How anyone had survived this fire…

Eleanor took a deep breath, unaware that Derek was listening to her heartbeat and trying to gauge her reaction to the house.

"What happened?" She asked.

She followed Derek as he led the two of them into the burnt house. Eleanor's eyes took everything in as Derek spoke. From the front door riddled with bullet holes to the half burnt down structure. Everything was the colour of death.

"Hunters. They locked my family in, all of them… My mother, my sister, my father, my cousins, a whole pack of werewolves…. And then set the house on fire."

"You said Allison's family were hunters. The same or…?"

Derek nodded his head.

"Allison's aunt... Kate. It was her."

The way he hesitated to say Kate's name made her wonder if there was anything else between them if there was something Derek wasn't telling her. She watched him gaze at a burnt wall, completely immersed in his tragic past. Vague recollections of reading about the fire and the woman came back to her, a story in the Beacon Hills Chronicle that she had read a few weeks back when she and Amelia first moved in.

Derek took in a sharp breath and turned to look at her, breaking out of his trance.

"We should get going. It'll be dark soon."


End file.
